The Revelation
by 60sec400
Summary: Dick discovers that John Grayson might not be his father. And it all started with a single fluke on a mission. Now, he's got to discover who his father is- if he's even alive, and deal with the sudden appearance of powers. But they'd got an address. Long Island, New York. And they'd got a name. Possibly. And they're not even sure of that.
1. The Beginning

**Hope you all enjoy! I do not own any of the characters you recognize, I am simply using them for my, and others, enjoyment! Thank you!**

* * *

 **Research Lab**

 **2010**

* * *

Robin leapt back, gripping the iron railing and swinging underneath to come up behind the hired hand. He swung his leg backed and kicked the man back. The thugs head slammed against the ground. Robin turned back and readied himself for the next attack. _M'gann, did you get the files?_

There was no talk in the Mindlink. Robin could see beyond the smoke around them that Artemis and Wally were in a two against five fight. Aqualad was being held back by fire and Superboy was currently trying to lift the truck they'd driven into him off. He turned back to the thug in front of him, who'd whipped out a knife.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. The thug grinned and moved forward to pull Robin down with him. Robin dodged, turning and kicking the man in the back. The thug fell forward onto his hands and knees. Robin flipped up onto the man's back, pushing him down into the rusty iron and then over top in front of him. A single punch rendered him unconscious.

 _I got them!_ M'gann said in the link, startling him.

 _Then we got what he need,_ Aqualad said. _Though I admit I need help here._

 _Same here!_ Superboy called out, his voice strained even over the link.

Robin jumped off the catwalk and down into the fires (not the actual ones, thank god) and looked around him. They were being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people around them. They'd been told by Batman to get hard files from being destroyed by a group of anarchist arsonists, say that five times over really fast. They hadn't been on the computer, so Robin was practically useless for this mission in terms of hacking and he'd been found sneaking in with M'gann camouflaged. It was embarrassing. He knew he'd get crap for it later.

But then a different group of people came up and started fighting the Anarsonists (?) and then then Wally had been spotted trying to get Robin and then they were in this whole mess.

Kid Flash and Artemis were both almost completely gone and Robin could feel the men beginning to surround him. He steadied himself and let out a long breath. It was his fault for getting caught and getting them in this mess. So he'd get them out. Or he'd try. He fell into a fighting stance and launched himself at one of the thugs. Really, he had to get Aqualad out of the flames. He saw M'gann out of the corner of his eyes pulling the truck off of Superboy. Good. They needed him too. Robin twisted around one guy and threw his Birdarang into three of the men's chest. He didn't wait around to see them fall back from the mini explosions, instead he twisted back around and knocked the man he was using as a pivot point out and slammed his body into the next guy.

"Stand down!"

Everything froze. Robin looked around him, the man falling to the ground.

Black Mask stood at the top of the catwalk, holding his .22 toward Robin. Several dozen more men were around them, all pointing their automatics at them. Robin froze. Shit.

"You know," Black Mask said, turning to one of his men. He twisted a knife in his hands. Robin could feel that shit-eating grin underneath the black skull mask. "You'd think the League would be kind enough to send actual heroes. Too bad, too, I'd much rather not waste the effort on these kiddos."

Robin narrowed his eyes. This was wrong. Batman hadn't found any connection with Gotham Mobs, not that he'd been looking for it, and there was no reason for Black Mask to want this file. Not unless he'd been hired out by someone who wanted it. That could be anyone and Batman hadn't exactly specified why this file was wanted, just that it was. Not that Robin didn't have an idea anyway, he'd downloaded the case file before they'd even left. But this was research, important research the government was conducting, but research nonetheless that Black Mask shouldn't have an interest in! It wasn't money.

But it could be worth a lot of it.

"We're not kids!" Kid Flash bit out, tied back by one of the thugs. Artemis was sitting with a scowl on her face, glaring up at Mask with steely eyes. She would know who they were dealing with just from living in Gotham. Not that Robin would know that she lived in Gotham but still. It would help.

"What do you want, Black Mask?" Robin snapped.

The man looked down at him and nudged his man again. "Well, would you look at that? It's the bat-brat. Big Man finally get rid of you, kid? Trade you off to the team for a better birdy?"

Robin ground his teeth. He glanced at Aqualad. The Atlantean looked deathly ill, and Superboy and Miss Martian were nowhere to be found. No doubt they'd disappeared when Black Mask showed up and were planning an escape. Hopefully. But they needed to go about this smart because guns could still hurt most of them and Superboy couldn't come in fists blazing and risk them all getting shot.

"Too bad, I did like you," Mask said, shrugging, "you all put up a good fight. Sorry about the Atlantean. He looks a little worse for wear." Mask didn't sound remotely sorry at all. He walked down to the center of the catwalk and loomed over them, his hands gripping the railing and his knuckles a pale white.

Robin scowled. This wasn't a game! Kaldur could die and it would be his fault because he'd gotten caught! Him! He felt a twisting sensation in his gut. The entire situation was unsettling.

"But I'm going to need that file you all stole from me. You give me that, I'll douse that little fire and you all can walk free. Call it collateral damage," Mask said with a shrug.

"We don't have it," Robin snapped, the twisting sensation getting worse. The pipes around them creaked.

"I think you're lying," Mask said quietly. "You don't get it bird-boy, I'll shoot your friends. Think the little speedster over there needs his legs?"

One of the men turned and held his gun to Kid Flash's knees. Wally's eyes widened and began to struggle, pulling away from the guns. One of the thugs slammed his fist into the redheads face. Blood trickled down from his hairline and Wally stilled, breathing raggedly.

"You do," Mask said. "I know you do. Just hand it over."

Robin felt his breath quicken. He didn't have the file. Miss M did, and she was MIA.

 _Guys?_ He said nervously. Man he wished Rocket and Zatanna had come on this mission.

 _Trying to find a way to distract them!_ M'gann said hurriedly.

 _Literally anything but busting in here and just outright attacking them out be perfect,_ Robin said, blinking up at Mask. The mobster was leaning over the railing now, relaxed and his hands folded neatly.

"Fine," Robin conceded, "I'll give you the file." He slipped one of his empty flash drives from his utility belt and held it out. "It's all downloaded here."

He could almost feel Mask's grin. "Ah, good boy." He signaled to one his men. A larger man with a gun stalked toward Robin and held his hand out expectantly. Robin dropped the flash drive into his hand. The man grinned and held it up to Mask, shaking it a little in his fist.

Mask smiled. "Kill them," he said.

Robin's stomach twisted and it felt like a dam was breaking open. And then everything exploded. The pipes twisted in the air beneath the catwalk and flipped all the men on it onto the ground feet below them. The water went everywhere, shooting out and dousing them all. Robin felt his stomach drop. Oh god. He jumped away and ran to Kid Flash and Artemis. The men around them had been slammed into the walls around them. Robin slipped out a birdarang and slit the ropes that bound his friends.

"We need to go," he said, turning back around to where Aqualad was shakily standing up. The fire was gone and the Atlantean hadn't been spared the water. In fact, none of them had. Robin looked down at himself, completely dry.

"Go!" their leader shouted. Kid Flash ran over and helped Aqualad up. Artemis and Robin looked to each other before they both sprinted out of the warehouse and to the parking lot where the Bioship was hidden. It appeared before them in red and blue, the bottom opening up. Superboy leaned out with his arm reaching down for Robin to grab. The boy leapt up and grabbed it. The alien pulled him through and then reached for Artemis. They both sat on the floor of the Bioship as M'gann guided the ship down so that Kid Flash could guide Aqualad up. Before they'd even seated, M'gann was pulling up.

"ETA is twenty minutes at top speed," she said, and then paused. "What happened back there?"

Kid Flash jumped up. His face was streaked with wet soot. "It was awesome! Right before we all died, Kal here made all the pipes burst and saved us! I didn't even know you could do that!" He turned back to the Atlantean, who was leaning into one of the chairs M'gann morphed up from the floor. The older teen frowned, holding his stomach.

"It was not me," he said.

Kid Flash shook his head. "No need to be modest!"

"I am not being modest. I was too weakened by the flames to control any of the water," Kaldur said, straightening up and looking at Kid Flash in the eye.

"Well, then, who made the pipes burst?" Kid asked, looking over at everyone.

Robin felt a knot form in his stomach. Why did he have the unsettling feeling that it'd been him? He didn't have a traceable meta-gene according to Batman but he'd felt all those pipes. All the water in the room. He knew where it'd all been. To an old water bottle lying in the corner of the warehouse to the pipes running underneath the catwalk to the sweat on Artemis's brow. He'd felt it all. And that just didn't make sense. Maybe there was Atlantean in his blood that he didn't know about, but that wouldn't make sense either. Most Atlantean's had aptitude for magic and that allowed them to control water, but Aqualad was right. Once he'd been exposed to fire long enough, he was too weak. That fire had been blazing— he would've been effected too. He held a hand to his stomach.

"I… think it was me," he said slowly, furrowing his brow.

The team turned to him. He hadn't said anything since the warehouse.

"Uh, what are you getting at, Rob?" Wally asked.

Artemis frowned, rolling her shoulder back and forth. "Yeah, you don't have powers."

He bit his lip. "Yeah. I mean, I know that. But I… I _felt_ the pipes. And my stomach was doing this weird twisting thing and everything kind of exploded in my head when the pipes twisted and burst. That, and aside from Superboy and Miss Martian, I'm the only one completely dry." He looked over the team.

"You activated your meta-gene?" Artemis said. She looked skeptical, but nodded. Robin was right. Aqualad, Kid Flash, and she were all soaking wet. There was no way Robin would've been able to avoid the water. It'd burst in all directions, coming from the ground, the side, and above.

"That's the thing! I shouldn't even have a meta-gene!" he exclaimed. "Batman's checked. There's nothing there. I have no aptitude for powers. I shouldn't have been able to feel the water!"

"Robin."

Robin's head snapped to the leader. Aqualad was standing there, still holding his side, but otherwise he looked alright. His pale green eyes were hard. "We will figure this out when we return. It will do well to remain calm and wait until we can explain to Batman what happened. Then we may figure out what has occurred and why you seemed to have awaken dormant abilities," the Atlantean said, his voice final. Robin slumped down, his shoulders dropping.

Oh god. He'd have to tell Batman. Bruce didn't particularly like metas. Not because he didn't trust them, but because they were generally assholes and the part of the whole point of Batman and Robin were that they didn't have powers, they didn't have any abilities. They did everything on their own. They were superheroes in their own right, on their own, with no abilities. They shouldn't have to be different from humanity to save it.

Robin nodded to his leader.

"Five minutes out," M'gann said, her eyes lingering on Robin as the mountain appeared in the distance.

Dread began to settle on his stomach. What was he going to say? And wasn't the meta-gene typically activated through intense stress and trauma? If anything, it should've activated almost five years ago, you know, at the circus. Would it change how he looked? Talked? Acted? Some activated genes made people go insane. It changed their physiology to adapt. And sometimes not for the best. Would Robin suddenly turn blue? He wasn't sure he could live with that. As far as he knew, his parents hadn't had any abilities, nor his Aunt, Uncle and cousin.

"Landing," M'gann said quietly.

Robin could feel Wally's stare on him. He glanced away at the file, eyes narrowing. It had better have been worth it. The landed slowly and M'gann opened up the floor of the ship. There, in the loading dock, was most of the league. The team all glanced at each other, eyes wide with confusion. Was the file this important to the league?

Batman stepped forward, eyes lingering on Robin for a moment before he looked over the team. "What. Happened?"

"I got caught," Robin said before Aqualad could say anything, "when Miss Martian and I went to go find the file. Wall— Kid Flash tried to rescue me and then he got caught. And they took us to this loading warehouse or something. Miss M went to get the file and the rest of the team," he paused to breathe, "went to rescue KF and I." He looked down at his feet. This was so embarrassing. The entire league. "Superboy got hit with a truck. Artemis got us free, and then these other guys came to try and get the file. Something got hit with a gun and a tank exploded and everything went down in flames. Aqualad was out of commission and we were being overwhelmed. And then, ugh, Black Mask showed up demanding the file. I tricked him and gave him a Flash drive that I had, saying I'd downloaded it on there. And then he said to kill us."

The league's eyes widened. One of the Green Lanterns turned away and murmured something to Hawk Woman.

"What happened next?" Batman asked, turning Robin's attention back to himself.

"The pipes exploded and Mask fell off the catwalk. We escaped," he turned back to Miss M, who held the file gingerly in her hands.

Batman gestured for her to come forward. The Martian walked over to Batman tentatively, handing him the file in silence. Batman looked it over once before he turned and handed it to Superman, who was decidedly not looking in the direction of the team at all. The Dark Knight turned back to the team.

"So you got off on a fluke," he deadpanned.

Robin winced, looking away. He took a deep breath. "No, I think I made the pipes explode."

Silence.

He's not looking at anyone and he barely sees the floor at all. His face is twisted into a permanent wince and his hands are curled into fists.

"Robin, report to med bay. We need to test you," Batman said, his voice is deathly low and Robin immediately walks past everyone and toward the inside of the mountain. He can hear his mentor's voice fading. "I expect a full mission report from all of you."

When Robin reached the med bay, he flopped down on one of the beds and removes his mask. He looks in one of the mirrors. There's a sink above it and he can see his ragged face. He's covered in soot too, but completely dry. He closes his eyes and runs a hand through his dirty hair. He feels wrong— well, no not wrong because it feels as if there's been a weight off his chest that he didn't even know was there has been taken off. But still… wrong.

The door hisses open and Batman steps in. The door closes behind him.

He immediately takes off the cowl and the only thing Dick can see is concern.

"Bruce," he said, his voice cracking. He's not even embarrassed. "What's happening to me?"

Bruce, not Batman because he's so human right now, hesitated. "I'm not even sure. We'll have to have Barry look. Clearly I missed something," he said. Dick looked away, frowning.

Bruce cleared his throat, moving to sit down on the chair next to the bed. "Did your parents—?"

"No," Dick said abruptly, "No they didn't. Or Aunt Karla or Uncle Rick." He looked away, biting his lip. This is surreal. He can't have powers. There's no way. He's human, normal.

"They never mentioned anything?"

"No," he said, his voice growing softer. He doesn't want to talk about this. He wants to go home and suddenly he desperately wishes he were a kid again, just so he can have an excuse to climb into B's bed and sleep there. But he'd too old for that now, he was too old for it then, but he'd have so many nightmares since he needed that.

The door opens. Flash is standing there. He looks solemn, which is generally not a good look for Barry Allen, but he can feel the tense emotion in the room. Behind him is Clark and Diana. Bruce breathed out.

"You need to get DNA," he said, moving away from Dick. Clark moved around the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why me?" Dick asked. "Of everyone on Earth, why me?" He turned away and then looked at Bruce. "I still get to be Robin right?" there's unanswered fear in his voice and his eyes are wide and terrified. Because, god, what if developing powers means he won't get to be Robin anymore?

But Bruce smiles a little and rubs Dick's hair. "Of course you will, chum."

Dick lets out a sigh of relief and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Diana raise an eyebrow and grin in Bruce's direction. The man is ignoring her, instead focusing probably too hard on what Barry is doing. She turned toward Dick then, and her expression changes. It looked like she's looking hard for something and isn't quite sure what she was seeing. Dick turned away.

He hated the scrutiny.

They all sat in silence as Barry drew blood and took several swabs of DNA.

"The team is getting antsy," Clark said suddenly, as Barry capped everything off. "I can hear them."

Dick turned back to Bruce. "They're gonna wanna know what's happening," he said, "And someone on your team just developing powers isn't really a daily occurrence."

Bruce winced. "Right. Of course not. We can explain after we've dealt with it. We don't even know half of what's happening. Which, you need to tell us exactly how you felt. Consider this an unofficial report."

Dick grinned halfheartedly. "I just felt a twisting sensation in my stomach. Like I was being pulled. It got worse and worse and then… everything just kinda snapped when Black Mask said to kill us. I could _feel_ the water everywhere when everything burst open. I was the only one not soaked when we got out of there and there was no way I just didn't get wet. It just… didn't touch me," Dick said honestly. He shrugged a little at the end.

"You felt the water?" Diana asked, crossing the room to stand in front of the bed.

Dick rubbed his arm where Barry had pricked it with the needle. "Yeah, like I knew where it was."

"There's something different about you," she said, eyes narrowing. "Not in a bad way, but there's… an aura. Don't you all feel it?"

Clark and Bruce looked at each other before turning back to Diana. "What are you talking about?" the alien asked.

"I don't know. It feels... familiar, but different too," she shook her head. "We can figure this out later."

"We will! In about two to three days," Barry exclaimed. "I'll get back to you then, B. It'll take a bit to go through all the proper tests."

Bruce sighed. "I figured. Take your time." Bruce pulled his cowl back on, transforming him back to Batman. "Ready?"

Robin smiled and nodded, sticking the mask back on. He could feel the glue was loose, but it would have to do for the walk back to the Zeta-tubes. He slipped off the bed and smiled shakily at Clark, Diana, and Barry. Barry put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll figure this out in no time, kiddo," he said with a grin. Robin smiled back.

"Thanks," he whispered. Batman whisked him out of there and toward the Zeta-tubes. The team was milling around and Batman wasted no time. He didn't even stop walking. Robin had to practically jog to keep up with him.

"I'll read your reports in the morning, make sure they're finished."

Wally opened his mouth to speak, but one meaningful glare from Robin shut him up. The redhead's angry stare faltered and he turned away and crossed his arms. Robin would deal with him later, once he knew how to deal with what was going on too. He hadn't even had a moment to process it, not really. He'd been too panicked about what Batman was going to think. It seemed Bruce was keeping a clear head, but that could change when they stepped through the Zeta-tube.

He waved briefly to the team before he stepped into the tube. The Batcave materialized moments later, Alfred waiting in front of the Zeta with a try of tea.

"I take it your mission went successfully?"

Robin winced. Batman appeared next to him.

"We got the file, if that's what you're asking," he said, taking a cup off the tray. "Thanks."

"Of course, Master Robin," Alfred said, raising one eyebrow before he turned to Batman.

Bruce slipped the cowl off his face and took a cup. "Thanks. There were, eh, complications."

Robin slid into the seat of the batcomputer and scowled. The computer was off and only the ambient lights Bruce had installed lit up the area. It felt cold and blue and sour. He sipped the tea.

"Complications, sir?" Alfred asked, looking between the two. "I take it you're part of the 'complications', then, Master Dick."

Dick slipped his mask off and nodded. "Part, yeah right. More like all of the complications."

"Are you going to say it or will you both continue to dodge around the issue?" Alfred said, his voice pointed more at Bruce. The younger man winced. Bruce looked a little haggard. Dick supposed that he was already stressed with the team getting the file. And they had, technically, completed the objective. They'd retrieved the file for the League. At first, they'd been complaining that they were just errand kids for the League. A mission to get a file? Were they serious? But then they'd gotten it and gotten back and the entire League had been there.

The League had trusted them to get the file. Clearly it'd been important.

"It seems that Ro— Dick, might've developed… or rather, activated, a dormant meta-gene," Bruce said slowly, gathering his words. He was stripping off his gloves and utility belt.

Alfred looked between the two and set down his tray on the cleared steel medical table behind him. Dick was slouching even further into the chair and Bruce had turned behind the changing rooms and arrived a moment later in sweatpants and one of his tank tops.

"I see… I was not aware that Master Dick even had a meta-gene," the Butler said. He'd turned to Bruce. The man was standing there pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed deeply and nodded.

"Neither was I. I'd done tests before to see if he had a notable meta-gene, but nothing was traceable. I must've missed something. I'm having Barry look at some sample he collected before we left," Bruce said, scooting Dick from his seat. "I'll go through your DNA on file again and see if there was something there that I overlooked."

Dick slid from the chair and stood up straight. He nodded, not verbally responding because really what could he say? "I'm going to go to bed, it's been a long night." He headed to the changing rooms and disappeared around the corner. What now?

Slowly he stripped from his Robin uniform. Alfred had brought down some workout clothes, which is lately what he preferred sleeping in. He looked over in the mirror. Ugh, he needed to shave. He forgot that his dad had said when he was younger that he'd have to shave really early. Why couldn't he get tall?

Didn't puberty hit all at once? You know, height, shaving, and pimples? But no, he had to go get water powers and make pipes burst. Maybe he should change his name to Pipeboy. He sighed and threw his uniform into the laundry bin on the side of the room. What came next was what he needed to focus on. If Barry came back and say they had missed something, then what would they do? And what would his powers entail? He couldn't feel the water anymore, and he definitely couldn't control it. He scowled and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him. He winced, waiting for Alfred's disapproving harrumph. None came.

Dick walked up to the elevator that led to the library and stepped in. It shot up, and the bookshelves greeted him. They'd figure it out. They would.

* * *

 **Central City**

 **Early Morning, two days later**

* * *

Barry leaned over his coffee and stirred the almost blonde drink. Then he scowled.

"What's wrong?" Margaret said, leaning across her desk to watch the man glare into his cup of coffee.

Barry pouted. "They burned it."

"Again? Why do you keep going there?"

"I like it there," he paused. "And they don't always burn it!"

"The past twenty times you've been they've burned it. And you still go there. And you still drink it," the woman said. She leaned back into her chair and put her hands behind her head. "Oh, I snagged that DNA off the synthesizer for you. What were you looking at?"

Barry almost dropped his burned coffee on the ground, which really wouldn't have been that much of a tragedy if it weren't for the fact that he currently needed some caffeine. He turned to stare wide eyed at Maggie, the dark skinned woman staring at him with a strange expression on his face. "Cold case," he said hurriedly, "just thought I'd look at the evidence again. It, uh, matches what's on file."

"You know Cap prefers you working active cases. That's kind of why we're here," the woman said. She stood up and adjusted her classes. "Speaking of active cases, you need to look at the Stilinski case."

Barry looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah, right. That. I'll get on that. Where'd you put my files?"

"Still over there. I'll see ya' later," she said, waving him goodbye as she disappeared behind the door.

He let out a sigh of relief and rubbed a hand over his face, glaring down at his coffee between his fingers. "I need to stop leaving League investigations around here at work," he sighed. He stretched and stood up, turning back to the lab and walking through the glass doors. Everything was more or less where he left it. Maggie had shifted some things around and changed the light on the microscope. He flipped the knob and sighed.

Wally had been bothering him for the past two days about the DNA and blood results. And it wasn't that Barry wasn't forthcoming with his doubts generally. He often shared his findings with police cases to Wally on the deal that Wally would keep his mouth shut. And the kid generally could when it came down to it. But this was serious. And Barry knew Bruce wouldn't appreciate it if Wally found out exactly what was wrong with his son before he did. Barry put on his glasses and leaned down to look at what had been printed.

He read it over one time. Then a first. Then a second.

"No way," he muttered. "No, no, no. This has gotta be wrong."

He knew it wasn't.

He folded it up and gathered everything and put it all in a yellow mailing envelope before he sprinted out of the office to grab his jacket. "I'll be back later, I've got something to do! See you cap!"

"Barry—." The voice had faded before it'd even reached his ears.

 ** _To be continued..._**


	2. The Truth

**Gotham City**

 **Twenty Minutes Later**

* * *

"Quarterly reports show here that—."

 _Bzzz. "Mr. Wayne?"_

Bruce blinked and looked down at the call button in front of the head of the conference table. He looked up at the presentation. The entire board's faces were turned toward him. "I'm sorry, Amanda, do you mind?"

The woman presenting the reports smiled. "Not at all."

Bruce pressed the button. "Natalie, talk to me."

 _"_ _There's a Mr. Barry Allen to see you, sir. Say's it's an emergency. I tried to tell him you were in a meeting but he's very insistent,"_ Natalie said, her voice the same stern level tone it always was.

Bruce tried not to look startled. What was Barry doing here? Didn't they all agree to keep civilian interactions to a minimum? "An emergency? Tell him to wait in my office. Give him something to drink." He turned to look at Amanda. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to go, I'm sorry."

The woman smiled. "It's alright! Knowing you Mr. Wayne you've already read all the reports," Amanda exclaimed, rocking back on her heels once before straightening and clasping her hands around her back.

Bruce smiled. He'd read them three times already and had already organized the finances. "I might have to change things up in the future! My apologies to the rest of the board," he said, gathering up his things and nodding in goodbye. The second the door was closed the smile fell and he was stalking past Natalie's desk and into his office. Barry was sitting on one of the couches set up to the side overlooking the city, bouncing his leg up and down. He was holding a yellow envelope.

"This is weird. Nice view," Barry said, turning to look at Bruce seriously.

"Why are you here?"

Barry didn't even look offended. He held the envelope out and handed it to Bruce. "Finished sometime last night. Look at it. It's not like anything I've ever seen."

Bruce took the envelope wordlessly, slipping it open to pull out the pictures and a long white piece of paper. He read it in silence. Barry is still bouncing his leg, but Bruce is too focused to tell him to stop.

Five minutes later, he looked up. "I don't understand," he said, "this is saying…"

"Half of his DNA is gone, Bruce," Barry said, his voice deadly serious. "Gone. Nada. Nothing. Not there at all. The only DNA it matches with on the information and samples you sent me is Mary Grayson's. No John Grayson. It's just gone. And there's not even a meta-gene. You didn't miss anything— there was no gene to find. Dick is… completely human on his mother's side." Barry's voice was strained between confusion and seriousness. It was clear he was completely baffled from the data, that it made no sense.

"On his fathers?" Bruce breathed, looking up from the data to Barry. The man's blue eyes were focused and his brow was furrowed. He was frowning.

"I don't even know what to tell you," Barry whispered.

Bruce fell onto the couch and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "This doesn't make sense. When I ran his DNA through the system, it matched to John and Mary Grayson's. I don't understand. He doesn't… I asked later, yesterday, if he was positive that his parents didn't have any powers. Anything at all."

Barry didn't say anything. It was strange seeing the man who was about as emotional as a metal spoon worrying and fretting like he was.

Bruce sighed. "Dick got… offended. A little mad."

"You didn't imply that his parents weren't married or that he wasn't their kid," Barry said.

Bruce held up the papers. "Oh, then this will be a trip."

"Right. Sorry."

"Not your fault," Bruce sighed. "I think he was upset that I'd imply he didn't know his parents. Or that he's forgetting them."

"That's not—."

"That's how he'll take it."

Barry nodded, sucking in a breath. "Ah, right."

"I'll tell him later tonight. I appreciate you coming here and not telling me about this on the phone," Bruce said. "Though, you could've waited until lunch."

Barry winced and smiled coyly. "Oh. Uh. Were you busy?"

"Meeting about the quarterly reports," Bruce replied. "Don't worry about it though. I've already read everything."

Barry looked around the office. "This is weird," he repeated. "Never thought I'd actually see your office." He looked around. The far wall was all bookshelves. The doors were frosted glass, but Barry had a feeling that Bruce could make the walls solid if he needed too. Bruce's desk was facing the wall and the entire back wall was all glass, looking over Gotham City. The couches were over to the side, angled slightly. On the other side, right of the desk and left of the door, was a credenza with two white vases and a large painting hanging on the wall.

"Very modern," he noted. "Thanks for the water, by the way."

"Figured you'd need it," Bruce said. He frowned and peered up at the blonde man. "Need food?"

Barry glanced down at his watch. "No, I need to head back to the station. Got a case to work on. There's some DNA that needs discovering."

"Franklin beat you to it," Bruce said, his voice a deadpan.

"Did you just make a joke?"

Bruce's lip twitch. "I'll see you tonight, Barry."

Barry grinned. "See you later, B-man!" He paused and lifted a tentative hand to rest on Bruce's shoulder. Bruce hadn't realized it, but he was an inch or so taller than the Flash. "It'll be alright. I'm sure we'll figure this out."

He left before Bruce could say anything, the frosted glass doors closing behind him. Bruce's small smile faded from his lips. He looked down at the DNA and closed his eyes. God. What was he going to say to Dick? The boy had gotten offended when Bruce had asked more questions about his parents. How was he going to sit down and look his son in the eye and tell him John Grayson wasn't his father? That Dick didn't have any record of DNA from his father's side.

And some small part of Bruce felt guilty. Terribly and irrevocably guilty. Because some small, insignificant part of him had then suggested, quite quietly, that Bruce wouldn't have to feel guilty about replacing his father because it didn't seem that Dick had one. Oh god. He ran a hand over his face. That wasn't even how that worked.

No DNA. None. None at all. Only Mary Lloyd Grayson. And given that she'd been dead for five years, they might never get answers. If there had been DNA, then they might've been able to find who Dick's real father was. But that didn't explain why this had happened now. Dick had always had a full strand of DNA before. In the past, Bruce would update his files. He'd go through DNA tests and blood tests and updating heights and weights. He had to change Dick's every once in a while to update his height. The kid had grown up several inches in the past year.

Bruce had seen John Grayson from afar, and the man had been towering, and he'd been sure that Dick would grow to the man's height. But Dick was small for even a thirteen year old and then Bruce thought that maybe Dick would be like his mother, who'd been petite and absolutely tiny. But now, they had no idea who his father was. They knew nothing. Not where his family was from. Not if he carried any predetermined diseases or genetic conditions.

Like a meta-gene.

Bruce stood up and tossed the folder on the coffee table. They had the records for the Grayson family, and Mary Lloyd as well. Haley had given the medical records Dick's parents had kept organized in their trailer and Bruce had gone through them thoroughly. Now Bruce would have to call Haley.

God. He hadn't talked to the man in almost five years. Bruce knew the circus was still angry that he'd taken Dick from them. They'd wanted to raise him there, Haley had tried to get custody as well but social services hadn't deemed it appropriate. Bruce knew that Dick still kept in contact with him, encouraged it even, but if there was a chance that everyone had lied to him about who his parents were… that'd be an even bigger issue.

He pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial for home.

 _"_ _Master Bruce,"_ Alfred's calming voice said through the phone. _"I take it there is news."_

"You'd be right, there," Bruce said. "Barry came to my office."

 _"_ _Oh?"_

"Yeah," he breathed. "Just, uh, tell Dick to come to my office when he gets home, alright?"

 _"_ _Of course, Master Bruce,"_ Alfred said, his voice unreadable. But Bruce could hear the twinge of curiosity.

"I'll see you when I get back, Alfred," Bruce sighed, hanging up the phone. God, this was going from bad to worse.

It didn't help that Dick had been acting so nervous the past two days. Alfred had laid a glass of water in front of him and he'd jumped halfway out of his wits. The powers hadn't shown up again, and Dick said he hadn't felt the twisting sensation in his stomach. He had barely interacted with Bruce aside from getting mad for half a day. Yesterday he'd been training, and the day before he'd shut himself in his room.

Bruce didn't pry, it was part of their deal, but soon he knew he'd have to play the father role he had stepped into all those years ago. He just wanted to go back home, wrap his arms around his son, and tell him it was alright. That it was a fluke. His parents were John and Mary Grayson, that he was completely human. But Batman didn't believe in flukes. And Bruce, well, he looked down at the envelope again.

Bruce wasn't sure what he believed in.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

 **6:02 PM**

* * *

The door to Bruce's study creaked open. It was still light out and the gold sun set rays of light streaking across the usually dark office. Dick poked his head in, the length of the office seemingly impossibly long from his angle. Bruce was sitting at his desk, looking down at several orders for the company when he heard the door open and looked up. His face changed from its stoic, calculating work face to something different. Dick wasn't sure if he could place it— was it guilt? Fear? Bruce wasn't afraid of him, was he?

"Bruce?"

"Dick," Bruce said, "Barry got back with the results." Straight to the point in the good old Wayne-fashion.

Dick mouthed 'oh' and slipped in between the cracks of the door, closing it behind him. Bruce stood up and walked over, carrying a yellow mailing envelope in his hand. He sat down in one of the plush arm chairs, leaning forward and holding the envelope tightly in his hands. Dick eyed it before looking up.

"You might want to sit down," Bruce said.

Dick blinked, folding his arms across his chest. This must be serious. He sat down on one of the couches slowly, looking at Bruce with more confusion than anything else. Bruce didn't say anything for a long moment. He appeared to be struggling with his words, which normally didn't happen. Typically, the man knew what he was going to say down to a tee. But when it came to emotions and talking about something difficult like this, Bruce struggled just as much as the next emotionless spoon.

"What's going on?" he asked finally, the silence starting to bite away at his brain. He folded his hands and leaned down to hold them below his knees. "What did the results say?"

"Barry found, Dick, that you… that John Grayson is not your father," Bruce said slowly. He might as well get to the point. He watched Dick's face. The boy jerked back, his face scrunching up in disbelief. Then anger— he opened his mouth and then snapped it shut several times. And then defeat. He fell back into the couch and his shoulders fell.

"What?" he whispered.

"The DNA showed that you have no relation to John Grayson. You're completely human on your mother's side," Bruce explained, leaning forward even further. He was almost on the edge of his seat.

Dick nodded. "So the meta-gene must come from… um, whoever my, uh, dad is." His eyes searched for something hidden in the coffee table, not once looking up at Bruce since the truth had been outed. His eyebrows were scrunched together and he was shaking. Bruce could see the boy was trying to hide it, that he was trying to keep steady and distract himself with facts.

Bruce sighed. "That's also where an issue lies. It doesn't seem that you have any DNA from a father. There's nothing there." He handed Dick the yellow envelope and watched as the boy went through and sorted the contents, his expressions flying from confused to upset.

"I don't understand, Bruce," Dick whispered, tossing the files onto the coffee table. "How can I… not have a dad?"

"I don't know, kiddo," Bruce answered honestly. "This honestly raises more questions than it answers. Barry came to my office personally to tell me."

Dick's lips twitched. "Interrupted you at work?"

"Yeah, he did," Bruce replied. He stood up and walked around the table to sit down next to his son, wrapping his arms around him. Dick broke down, leaning in immediately to hug the man back. He sobbed into his jacket and Bruce quietly comforted the boy.

"I don't understand!" he cried suddenly, pulling away from Bruce to wipe his eyes. Dick's face was twisted into a grimace and he looked at Bruce with pained blue eyes. "Why would they lie? All those pictures of my mom… pregnant with me. And my dad… their marriage. I don't understand!" He slammed his hand into the couch, balling it into a fist.

"I don't know," Bruce repeated, angrily wishing he knew more. He wished he could talk to Mary Grayson and get the name of Dick's father. "We can call Haley."

Dick wiped more tears from his eyes, sniffling. "You think he'd know?"

"He was close to your parents, right?"

A smiles ghosted across Dick's face. "Yeah, he was. Do you think you could call him? I don't know if I could…"

"Of course, chum," Bruce said, hugging the boy closer. "I'll get on that. Are you—?"

Dick stood up abruptly, turning away. "I'll be in my room. I gotta, um, think. You know. About all this."

"Right," Bruce said softly.

Dick stalked over to the large doors, pulling it open. He paused, not looking back. "Do you think he knew?"

Bruce looked up, furrowing his brow. "Knew what?"

"That I wasn't his," Dick said, his voice strained. Bruce looked the boy over. He was tight, his hand held onto the door too tightly, and the muscles in his face were tense. He'd turned slightly to look at Bruce in the eye. He just looked so tired. The past several days had been so stressful and this had been added on top of everything.

"I can't honestly answer that, Dick," Bruce said. "But maybe we can find out."

"Yeah," Dick said softly, "maybe."

He disappeared a moment later, shutting the door behind him. Bruce closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch. He'd go up and check on the boy later, just to see if he was okay. Maybe Alfred could forgo dinner for the night and they'd order pizza. That always seemed to cheer Dick up, even if it was just for a night. Bruce reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialing the number he'd memorized almost five years ago in the case that he needed to call Haley. He hadn't had to, but he'd never forgotten the number.

It rang for a minute. _*click*_ There's music playing in the distance and voices muffling the sound of the phone. _"Hello, C.C Haley talking. May I ask who's calling?"_

"Mr. Haley, it's Bruce Wayne."

There's shuffling on the other end of the line and a door shutting behind someone. Haley's voice became clearer when he spoke again. He sounded surprised, and Bruce couldn't blame them.

 _"_ _Mr. Wayne, er. Hello, what can I do for you?"_

Bruce leaned back into the couch and stared at the paneled ceiling. "I was actually calling in regards to Dick. It's become known to us that John Grayson was not his biological father. You've known his parents for most of their lives before the accident," Bruce paused, unsure of where to proceed. "Dick asked… well, I offered to and he accepted, to have me call you and ask if you knew his father."

There's a long pause at the other end of the line. Bruce can hear a lighter in the background and the squeak of a chair. "John Grayson was Dick's dad. But… he wasn't his father."

Bruce waited.

There's a sigh. "Mary and John. They married after Mary had gotten pregnant. But it was early on. Most marriages in the circus are typically arranged. Mary had ran out one night when we were in Florida. Met a man. They dated for a while. I think it was out of rebellion. You know, to the arranged marriages. But the man, I'd met him once. He was tall. Darker skin, black hair and, huh… green eyes? Or blue. I can't remember. Said he was a fisherman. He left soon after Mary got pregnant."

"Did you get a name?"

Haley barked a laugh. "Sidon or Simon or something. No last name. Man disappeared as soon as he came. Mary was devastated."

"No contact? An address? Phone number?"

"Nothing as far as I know. Now, most of their belongings are in storage. Mary had a thorough address book of all the friends she'd met along the way. It could be there, but I haven't seen the thing in five years," Haley replied. Bruce heard the sound of a cigar being tapped against glass.

"Did she ever mention him again?"

"Once or twice after he left, but nothing more than a passing mention."

Bruce scowled. "You said Florida, correct? What area?"

"Mmm… Miami is our stop before the two month break. That's when they met."

"Did they ever plan on telling Dick?" Bruce asked. He couldn't imagine that they wouldn't tell him, not with how the young boy had described his parents. Not with how the circus itself had described his parents.

"When he turned eighteen, I believe," Haley said. Bruce heard cotton against leather and the squeak of the chair again.

"Just one last question, Mr. Haley. Did John and Mary love each other?"

There's a long silence. But Bruce can hear Mr. Haley smile as he talked. "They loved each other very, very much."

Bruce nodded even though he knew Haley couldn't see it. "Thank you. I know you don't particularly… like me very much. But I appreciate this."

"It's for Dick," Haley answered honestly, his voice growing softer.

"I understand. I actually wanted to extend an invitation to you while I've got you here. Dick is having a big mathlete competition in the fall. I know he'd love it if you could come," Bruce said, smiling with pride.

"I'll be there," Haley said. "Goodbye, Mr. Wayne."

The call ended before Bruce even got a word out. He let his hand fall and smiled a little, although unsettled by the news. He hefted himself up from the couch and tossed his phone down. He stretched for a moment and put his hands on his hips, looking around the office. A tiredness had fallen around him. The golden light was gone and the room was almost dark, the only light coming from a softly shrouded moon. He walked out of the office to find Alfred standing there.

"He's upstairs," the Butler said.

Bruce nodded, looking in the direction of the grand staircase. "I'm headed there now. Think we can get some hot chocolate?"

"I think that can be arranged," Alfred said, a small smile forming on his lips.

"What did Mister Haley say?"

Bruce looked over at him, eyes narrowed but a smile on his face. "Dick mention that did he?"

"Only briefly. And I deduced you'd call him," Alfred explained.

"Mm, Batman who?"

"I've no idea what you're insinuating Master Bruce," the man said stiffly.

"I think they might have to give the name of the World's Greatest Detective to someone else," Bruce said, laughing a little.

Alfred said nothing, his face growing serious. Bruce placed a hand on the man's shoulder and turned away, walking toward the stairs. Dick's room was several flights up. And even now, he didn't know how he was going to speak to the boy. It was like the weight on his chest from his earlier news had been replaced with an almost heavier one. Because now they might have a lead or a name but it couldn't lead them anywhere.

And nothing could explain a complete lack of DNA. Dick shouldn't even exist if that was the case. Bruce was completely befuddled by what had occurred and where they were going next. He wasn't even sure where to go from here. Dick was thirteen years old— finding a fisherman in Florida in Miami almost thirteen, fourteen years ago would be next to impossible. It seemed that Dick's parents, his biological parents, had been dating— if it could be called that— and made a mistake. Someone didn't watch something. Bruce doubted if there'd even be a phone number in the address book. You didn't keep the phone number of someone you dated for two months.

He stood outside of Dick room for a minute. He ran his hands through his hair.

"You can come in," Dick's muffled voice said through the door.

A smile twitched on his face and he pushed the door open. Dick was sitting on his bed with a photo album in his lap. He had headphones in, listening to music, and he'd changed to his pajamas. He took the headphones out and tossed the phone onto his pillow. He was wearing his father's old leather jacket.

Bruce walked over and sat down. Dick was looking at the one photo album he'd been allowed to keep. It had pictures of his parents back when they'd first married. Dick was open to about half-way through, looking at a polaroid of Mary Grayson shoveling cake into her mouth, glaring at the camera.

"I don't look like him," Dick said, shrugging a little, "I guess I should've figured." He turned to Bruce, shutting the album and blocking Mary's face away and moving to the side. "What did Haley say?"

Bruce took a breath. "That most marriages in the circus were arranged and your mother was probably rebelling the idea when they were in Miami before the two month break. She dated a man and then when he left, she and your father got married like they were supposed to," Bruce explained, wincing in apology a little at Dick's face. It fell, and his eyes dropped to the floor.

"Did you get a name?"

"Simon. Or Sidon. Haley said it was so long ago he can barely remember. There was no address, place of work, no phone or email. Haley if there was anything ever, it'd be in your mom's address book," Bruce said, wrapping his arm around the boy. Dick leaned into him, resting his head.

"Her address book is… I have that," Dick said, his eyes lighting up.

Bruce looked down at him sharply. "What? I thought it was in—."

"—the storage unit, yeah. But I snagged it. I thought that maybe I could find other family in there or something. If only I'd known," Dick whispered, turning to look away again. He pulled himself away and walked over to the closet. Bruce's arm fell. Dick reached up into the top bit of his closet and pulled out a large box. It looked like a craft box, and it was a little worn. Coins rattled inside it. He brought back over to the bed and opened it up. It was full of old Christmas cards, pictures, some books and several other knickknacks. Dick rummaged through it and pulled out an old green notebook with olive branches stamped on front.

"Here it is! I knew I had it," he said, "this might explain something!"

He shoved the box to the side and sat back in his original place at Bruce's side, shifting the man's arm so that it was back around his shoulders. He opened it to the first page. They went through the names together.

 _Adam and Denise Mathews— Nebraska_

 _Brandy Tubman— Washington D.C_

 _Carol and Dan Brown— Baltimore_

They went down through the entire thing. Dick focused hard on the S's but there was no Simon or Sidon. When they reached the end, Dick insisted on going through it all again.

"Actually," Bruce said, "go back to D. I might've seen something." He slipped the book from Dick's hands and flips it back open to D. "There."

 _Delphi Strawberry Service_

 _Farm Road 3.141_

 _Long Island, New York_

 _11954_

Dick looked it over. "That's not my mom's handwriting. Or my dad's." He looked up at Bruce, brow furrowed.

"Why would your mother need the address of strawberry service in New York?"

Dick frowned. "I don't know. Maybe it's… maybe she liked their strawberries?"

"Is it either your Aunt or Uncle's handwriting?"

Dick shook his head. "No, Aunt Karla had the worst handwriting ever. And Uncle Rick never wrote in English. Ugh, I'm named after him and the guy wasn't even my uncle."

Bruce laid a hand on Dick's hand. "He was your uncle. Maybe not… by blood, but he was your uncle. Just like John Grayson was your father, he raised you. He loved you despite everything," Bruce said, pulling the boy closer. "I'm not your father but… I love you too, Dick. You're my son."

Dick smiled up at him. "Yeah, you're my dad too."

Bruce couldn't help the smile on his face. "I'm glad you think that, Dick."

The boy wiped his eyes. "Sorry, I'm crying. You'd think I'd be too old for that."

"No one is too old for crying, even me," Bruce said, shaking Dick a little. The boy laughed.

"We'll figure it out," Bruce said.

Dick looked up and wrapped his arms around his father figure. "Promise?"

"I promise."

 ** _To be continued..._**


	3. The Father

**Miami**

 **1996**

* * *

Mary slipped her feet into the sand at the beach and leaned back onto her elbows, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. Stupid circus and stupid rules. She didn't want an arranged marriage. She didn't want to marry someone she didn't love. And while John was great, and she was sure she could learn to love him, he wasn't her choice. It was being forced on her. It was something that had been decided when she was ten years old, right after she'd been inducted into the Court.

Mary sighed and let herself lay down completely in the sand. It was dark out, and there was barely anyone around this part beach. In the distance she could hear the music and see the lights from the parties. Over the harbor she could see the lights of boats glimmering in a blanket of ink. Maybe she could sneak on a boat and steal away into the ocean and find somewhere else to live. She wouldn't mind Italy. Or the south of Spain. Maybe Turkey.

She could work somewhere. Maybe she'd find someone and they'd fall in love and get married.

"It seems a little late for a lady as beautiful as yourself to be out here," a voice said.

Mary jerked back, reaching back to grab the pocket knife she kept on her.

A mean appeared in the darkness, wearing a flower print shirt and swim bottoms. He was wearing flip flops and had a towel thrown over his shoulder. And he was incredibly handsome. Tanned, smooth kin and wavy, wild black hair. His eyes were a deep green, like the ocean. Mary's breath caught in her throat.

"I'm alright," she breathed, "I just… I thought it'd be calming."

"The ocean?" the man asked, sitting down next to her. He was young, his face smooth.

"Oh," she said, "yes. The ocean."

They sat in silence.

"I didn't mean to scare you," the man said, looking over apologetically.

Mary grinned, sitting up to wrap her arms around her knees. She gave the man a crooked smile. "No worries! I just wasn't expecting anyone that's all."

"I understand. What's your name?"

"Mary Lloyd," she replied. "Yours?"

The man laughed. "My friends call me Sidon," he said. "Consider it a nickname."

Mary grinned, raising her eyebrow a little. "I give you my name but you give me a nickname, I wouldn't say that's fair. Would you, Sidon?"

The man's grin is crooked and he looked over at her with a sparkle in his eye. "Let me make it up to you with dinner then," he said.

Mary didn't even hesitate. And she'd never regret saying yes. Not even for a second.

* * *

 **Gotham**

 **2010**

* * *

Dick was floating in the air. He was staring down at a man in a tuxedo suit. He was tapping his fingers on a table, looking idly around an idyllic café. The sun was shining around them and the trees drifted through the breeze. In the distance, Dick could hear calming music being played and the sound of boats passing by.

The man was handsome but his face was scarred over. His hair was long and black and in a long ponytail. He was looking impatiently around him, as if waiting for some other arrival. Dick felt himself drift closer to the table. This was a strange dream.

The man leaned back into his chair and accepts a latte from the waitress, smiling at her with an award winning smile. A woman appears then, wearing a green toga and with dark red hair slung across her shoulders. She had dark, almost black eyes, and her skin is deathly pale. She takes a seat with the man, pulling the iron metal chair out so that it screeches against the concrete.

Dick can't help but think that maybe she's doing it on purpose.

The man grins cockily at her. "Mnemosyne," the man said, "You came!"

The woman doesn't smile back. She leaned back into her chair and shook her head. "Why am I here Prometheus? I thought you were back in your rock after what you did in the last war."

The man flinched and looked away, his smile fading into an irritated grimace. He tapped the side of his latte and shook his head. "I… managed to get out of that tight spot," Prometheus said, blinking. "And you know why you're here."

The woman shook her head, her red hair shifting back and forth. It seems to drift off like smoke into the breeze. Dick wonders why no one at the café addresses or notices the strangely dressed Mnemosyne or the odd too-fancily-dressed-Prometheus. "You are a foolish being, Prometheus. Inciting a war against the Demigods. I thought you liked humanity," she asked, eyes narrowing. Her black eyes are so dark, when she closes her eyes Dick can barely see the white sclera.

"I do, but they've… my employer—."

"Ha!" the woman laughed. One or two people from the café look over. "Your employer. You're too smart to work alone and go out on your own and too stupid to realize this is foolish."

"I've seen the future—."

"You've seen an idea of the future, Prometheus. You've seen a single possible outcome with a possible course of action. It would do you well to remember your last stint in war. And before that. The demigods are too powerful," Mnemosyne said, leaning forward to glare at Prometheus. "Already now, they are watching."

Prometheus looked around wildly. Dick blinked as the man's (?) eyes shifted over him. He looked at her desperately. "How can you tell?"

"Dreams and memory go hand in hand," she said simply. "I am the Titan of Memory and Remembrance."

A titan?

Dick tried to move forward but a hand suddenly clamped around his wrist. A boy is there. He is tall and lean with tanned skin like Dick's and black, onyx hair. His sea-green eyes are narrowed and he's glaring at Dick with an intensity Dick's never felt. It was like he's being scrutinized. Dick pulled his wrist away. He seemed familiar in a way that Dick couldn't really understand.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

Dick opened his mouth to speak but he's falling away from the boy suddenly. He reached out to grab his hand but their fingers slip past each other and he was suddenly being pulled from his bed. Bruce's face fills his vision and he's shaking Dick.

Dick blinked and shot up. "What's wrong?"

Bruce is only in his pajamas, but he pulled Dick from his bed and threw an emergency backpack at him. "Something is attacking the manor!"

Dick launched himself out of the bed, snatching the backpack and throwing it over his shoulder. "What?"

"Not sure who it is. We need to get to the cave. Now." Bruce grabbed his sons wrist and shoved the door open. "Alfred is already there and—." The both freeze at the sight before them. Dick watched the strange female creature claw its way up the stairs. She had dark black hair and slitted red eyes and scaly skin. Her body shifts from that of a woman to two snake tails. Her forked tongue flickers out of her mouth like a snakes.

"Ah!" she cried triumphantly. "There he is!"

Bruce shoved Dick behind him, holding his fists up. "Get out, lady!"

Dick looked up at Bruce strangely. Clearly this woman wasn't human.

"Move, mortal!" the creature cried. "I am Echidna! The mother of all monstersssss! I have no quarrel with you. Bring the boy to me!"

Bruce growls at the woman and immediately glanced at Dick. "To the Cave! Now!"

Dick nodded and sprinted at the beast. She smiled a large toothy grin with too sharp fangs in her mouth and licked her lips. Right as he would have met her, he jumped up and planted a foot right on the top of her head, launching into a roll in the air and landing behind her. He sprinted down the stairs. He hears the snake bodies turning and the thing is coming after him. God, it's after him.

And now Bruce was in danger. Or not, if the thing was following Dick. Dick sprinted down the last several steps on the second level and then launched himself over the banister to land on the ground. The second his feet hit the floor, he's going. He ran down the hall to Bruce's study. He hears the creature screech behind him, slamming into the paneled walls of the manor. Dick slams the door shut behind him, breathing heavily for a moment. His eyes are fluttering around the room and they land on one of the ancient swords that Thomas Wayne had collected. He snatched it off the wall, breaking one of the metal wracks that held it.

He slams the button for the Batcave to open.

Echidna slammed her body against the doors. "Open these doorsssss child! There'sssss no water around you!" she yells. There's a thump against the door. He heard the door of Bruce's office splintering.

The Batcave opened and Dick flew in, sliding down the pole. They hadn't used that entrance in a long time, preferring the elevator behind the fireplace, but this way was also the quickest. He rolled and landed on his feet, holding the sword up just as Echidna dropped onto the floor of the Batcave.

"Demigod!" the Echidna hissed.

Dick jumped back as she lurched forward, throwing a clawed hand through the air. He slashed the sword down but it twisted it's body out of the way.

"Mortal weaponssss cannot hurt me, child," she snapped, straightening and rising herself up. She loomed over Dick.

Dick gritted that teeth. What the hell did that even mean? She moved forward to attack again, her forked tongue shooting out obnoxiously. Dick sliced the sword through the air. She dodged and moved to his left, throwing out her clawed hands. He watched Bruce slide down the pole, landing several feet behind them. He didn't look injured. In the moment of distraction, Echidna thrust herself forward and raked her claws across his chest.

He cried out, stumbling back toward the Batcomputer. He dropped the sword at his feet, holding his chest.

"Dick!" Bruce cried out.

Dick looked down at his hand and saw red. He slowly held it back to his stomach and squeezed it. Pressure on the wound, he thought wearily.

Echidna screeched as two miniature explosions went off. Dick reached down and plucked the sword off the ground, holding it steady. He couldn't allow Bruce to get hurt. He was Robin— it was his job to protect Batman. She stumbled back into him and got her footing (if it could be called that? With snake legs?) she raked her arm across the air at Dick's face. He ducked under, adrenaline pumping, and thrust the sword into her body. The moment it touched her she exploded into a shower of gold dust.

He dropped the sword and felt arms wrap around him. Slowly, he closed his eyes. He would be okay.

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **About Two Minutes Later**

* * *

 _Recognize Batman 01_

 _Recognize Robin B-01_

Connor, M'gann, and Zatanna turned toward the Zeta tubes. It was late, and generally Batman and Robin didn't come to the Cave unless there was a mission. Robin didn't stay late at night usually; he said he preferred doing homework in his room. They didn't have a mission tonight did they? The entire team wasn't there then, they were still missing Kaldur, Artemis, Wally, and Raquel.

Plus, they had the strange older British man who'd walked straight to where he knew Black Canary would be.

And then they appeared.

A tall, dark haired man in pajamas was carrying a small familiar looking boy.

Zatanna's eyes widened. "Robin!"

The man, presumably Batman, looked over at them. When he spoke, it didn't sound remotely like Batman. "Zatanna, where's Black Canary and the man who came here earlier?"

She heard Connor and M'gann stand up behind her. "In the library I think," she said softly.

"Thank you," he said and immediately stalked off down the hall.

She turned around, confusion on her face. "Was… that… Batman?"

M'gann and Connor looked at each other, frowns mirroring on their faces. M'gann looked at Zatanna. "I think so? Should we call the rest of the team?"

Zatanna nodded. "That might be a good idea. Robin was injured. Did you—?"

"See all the blood, yeah," Connor said, crossing his arms. "I'm not going to wait around like last time. And we still haven't even gotten an answer." He stomped down the hall, holding his hands at his side in fists. M'gann and Zatanna looked at each other before they followed him. Zatanna pulled out her communicator and send a message out to the rest of the team. They should know about this too. Robin… well, whatever his name was… was their teammate too.

They walked down the hall to Med-bay. Batman was waiting, still in pajamas, outside as he watched Black Canary and the British man wrap Robin's chest. They'd cleaned the wound and were just finishing dressing it. Robin looked like he was awake, his eyes blearily following Black Canary around.

Batman looked over at them. It was strange thinking that this man was Batman. He didn't carry the air around him that the Dark Knight did. But they figured that he was stressed about Robin. Typically, Robin came out pretty unscarred from their missions. Maybe a couple of bruises, but rarely ever was there as much blood as there had been tonight. Perhaps whatever had clearly attacked them had been after Batman and Robin had thrown himself in the way.

"Did you notify the rest of the team?" he asked, his voice still not as low or as rumbling as they were used to hearing.

M'gann glanced at Zatanna. _Did you tell them?_

 _Yeah._ Zatanna replied.

M'gann looked back at Batman. "Yes, Zatanna sent them a message."

Batman nodded. "Thought so. Any names you hear tonight are not to be mentioned outside of Mount Justice, understand?"

They all nodded. Connor stepped forward, looking up at Batman with a glare. "What happened to Robin?"

The man turned away, furrowing his brow. His face was still and stoic, but his eyes betrayed his worry. He looked over at Connor and then back at Robin as Black Canary and the British man finished up. "We were attacked by a woman… thing… in our home," Batman explained, "Robin killed her, but she… clawed him across the chest."

Connor's arms dropped to his side and M'gann and Zatanna's eyes widened. "He killed her?"

Batman grimaced. "I don't think she was very human."

"What was she?" Zatanna asked, glancing over at Robin. She could focus on his eyes later.

"Still working on that," Batman said. He moved forward to open the door to the Medical room. He stood by Robin's side and put a hand on the boys shoulder. Robin looked up at him through tired eyes before his head fell and he turned to look at the other members of the team. He smiled at them through the window before he turned back to whatever Black Canary was saying.

A moment later, the door opened and Black Canary walked out. She only raised an eyebrow when she saw them. "Head to the living room. Let's just give them a moment. Bruce said you called the team?"

They nodded.

She smiled. "Good. I need to call a couple of League members. There's a possibility that Batman and Robin's identity's have been compromised."

They followed her as she began to walk down the hall. As they neared the living room, they heard the Zeta Tubes call out. Artemis, Wally, and Raquel were standing in the living room, all talking in low voices. Wally noticed them first, zipping up to stand by them. He held his hands out in front of him. He was wearing thrown together clothes. Clearly he'd been in bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Robin and Batman were attacked in their home," Black Canary explained. "They're here. I need to call the some members of the league. I'll be right back. Don't... anything you see or hear here tonight needs to remain here at the mountain, got it?"

Wally, Artemis and Raquel looked at each other and nodded. The Star City heroine turned away and walked back down the hall.

"Dude, what happened?" Wally asked, turning to the group.

M'gann bit her lip. "Well, we were about to head to bed when Batman came in holding Robin. They," she glanced at the others, "weren't in their costumes."

"No way," Artemis breathed, jumping over the couch. She was wearing shorts and an old Alice and Wonderland shirt. "They're in their civvies?"

"No mask's and everything," M'gann tried to say lightheartedly. She gave them a small smile.

 _Recognize Wonder Woman 03_

 _Recognize Superman 02_

 _Recognize Flash 02_

The league members appeared in the Zetatube's. Wonder Woman stalked forward immediately, her face stern. "Where is Batman?"

"Here."

The team turned to see the unmasked Batman and a Robin still holding his chest. Neither had masks on. The British man appeared behind them a moment later. He stood poised behind them, hands clasped behind his back. He disinterestedly at the League, but they could see he was tense.

The League's eyes widened and Wonder Woman floated forward.

"Richard! Are you alright?"

"We were attacked," Batman said. Wonder Woman turned to look at him.

"By whom? I will crush them," she demanded, curling her hand into a fist.

Batman winced. "The woman appeared suddenly. Alfred answered the door. She attacked him and he escaped down to my office and told me what was happening. I told him to come here to the cave and I went to go wake up Dick," Bruce said, putting another hand on Dick's shoulder. "She followed me up to his room and went to attack him. I told him to come here and I'd hold her off. She followed Dick to the Batcave. He'd grabbed a sword off the wall and… she got his chest. I threw two Batarangs at her. The explosion knocked her off her feet."

Dick looked up at Bruce sharply, his face confused.

Bruce either didn't notice or he wanted to get the story out. "She went after Dick again. He dodged and stabbed her through the abdomen with the sword."

Superman's eyes widened. "You… killed her?"

Dick shook his head. "No, no. She exploded into gold dust the second I stabbed her. Bruce, you keep saying it was a woman?"

Bruce looked down. "She was."

Dick shook his head again, wrapping his arms around himself. "No, she had the… snake legs and the slitted eyes. She got me with the claws on her hands."

Wonder Woman leaned down and grabbed Dick by the shoulders. The boy jumped, looking at her with wide eyes. "Gold dust, you say?"

"Uh, yeah. She called herself Echidna."

"Richard… Echidna is—."

"The mother of all monsters," the boy said, his voice frustrated. "Yeah, I know. She mentioned it a couple of times. But I remember her being mentioned in some Greek poems we read in class."

"She was after you?" Diana asked, she looked tired and strained. "Richard, you must understand. This is vitally important. Was she after you specifically?"

Dick nodded slowly. "Yeah. She was. She called… she called me a demigod. And she said that there's no water around me now." He shook his head and shrugged. "But that doesn't explain why Bruce couldn't see her. She looked clear as day to me." He looked back up at his mentor. Bruce was frowning at the ground, eyes narrowed in thought.

Diana looked between the too, rising to her full height. "I know why."

"What? You do?" Flash asked.

Diana sighed, her shoulders dropping. "Yes. Most Greek monsters and the things you know as myths cannot be seen to a normal mortal. Now, some are born with the Sight to see through the mist. Other's cannot. Echidna is a Greek monster. A terrible one, at that. Bruce, you couldn't see her because you cannot see through the mist."

"So I could?" Dick asked. "Why haven't I seen any monsters before? Is that why she called me Demigod? Because I could see them?"

Diana shook her head. She looked around all of the team and the League members. Bruce was staring at her with strange eyes, urging her to move forward with what she was about to say. Dick's eyes were pleading. He looked up at her with a strange sort of conviction, as if everything depended on her. "You can see them, Richard, because you are a demigod. The son of a god and a mortal."

Dick blinked.

"No, no!" Wally exclaimed. "Dick's parents are… he knew them! Neither of them were gods!"

Dick winced and looked away. "Wally."

The redhead's face turned to face his best friend.

"Uncle Barry said that in the DNA test, John Grayson wasn't my dad," Dick said slowly.

Superman jerked back, turning to look at Bruce for confirmation. Slowly, the Billionaire nodded. Why hadn't he been informed? Clearly, they'd known this for a little while, and he hoped that Bruce would've told him about something like this. He knew how Dick felt about his parents— he still had nightmares about them dying. Hearing that the man he'd known almost all of his life as his father was not actually related to him was hard. Clark had always known he was adopted, but then again he'd always had his powers.

Dick continued. "We didn't know… didn't find out until today." He steels his face and looked up at Diana with hard eyes. "So you're saying my dad was probably a Greek god?"

She nodded. "More likely a minor water god. I can't see _him_ breaking the oath twice…," she said, the last part more of a whisper to herself. She cleared her throat and looked the two of them in the eyes. "I suppose that explains your aura I felt earlier this week."

"Then… if what you're saying is true, I guess that'd explain my dream," Dick said, looking up. "When Bruce woke me up I'd been in the middle of a dream."

"Demigods can have prophetic dreams—."

"I don't understand. If demigods exist, how haven't we heard of them?" Flash asked. "It doesn't make any sense. An entire subculture of Greek society just existing with half-god children?"

Superman nodded. "Agreed. This is strange. Why have you never mentioned it?"

Diana smiled sadly. "Most demigods… most do not make it until adulthood. They smell, they have a certain scent that monsters are attracted to. If they are not properly trained then the monsters will kill them. That's assuming you're a child of the Olympians. Minor gods… their children can survive. Most monsters aren't interested in them." She shook her head. "I've heard of many heroes… dying too young. Most never get the chance to see themselves grown."

Bruce's grip on Dick's shoulder tightened and he pulled the boy closer. Dick squirmed a little and his face blushed a deep red.

"But that doesn't explain how… where are they trained?"

Diana shrugged. "Long Island, New York. There is a camp… the demigods are sent there and trained. Sometimes they may receive quests."

Bruce's head snapped to look at her. The team's eyes bounced back and forth between the League members.

"Long Island?" he asked.

Dick tugged at the man's shirt. "Bruce, the address book…"

Bruce nodded, not sparing the boy a glance. "Delphi Strawberry Service, is that familiar Diana?"

Wonder Woman looked at him, surprised. "That's their alias. It covers finances and transportation for the campers. How do you know…"

Dick spoke up. "My mom. She had this address book. We called… an old family friend of mine and my parents. He said the man's name must've been Simon… or Sidon. Something like that. He said that contact information might be in my mom's address book. She kept a pretty thorough record of things. We looked and didn't find a Simon or anything like that, but Bruce saw that address. It didn't match my mom or dad's handwriting. We were going to check it out later but…" his voice faded and he looked back to his father figure. Bruce was looking at Diana, his eyes focused solely on her.

"Sidon," she said. "Of course. An old minor god, what am I thinking? Where did they meet?"

Dick shrugged. "Haley just said they were in Miami at the time."

Diana scowled. "Αυτός ο παλιός ηλίθιος," she cursed. Dick understood "that old idiot". His eyes widened. He didn't know Greek.

"Poseidon," Diana said. The moment she spoke the word and strange green light flooded the room. Dick looked around, suddenly wondering why all eyes were on him. Or rather, on the top of him. He looked up and saw it— there, a green floating Trident hovering above his head.

Diana's voice was low. "Richard Grayson. The son of Poseidon."

 ** _To be continued..._**


	4. The Dream

**Mount Justice**

* * *

Wally coughed awkwardly.

The Leaguers were all standing there talking. The team had shuffled to the side, lounging haphazardly on the couches. Robin, or rather, Dick, was standing to the side as well, arms folded over his chest, glaring at the floor. It was weird seeing both Batman and Robin maskless and in their pajamas. Wally had been at Wayne Manor only twice and it seemed Bruce was hardly there or specifically avoided Wally— which made sense. When he'd asked Uncle Barry why 'Mr. Wayne' (because unlike Dick, he wasn't allowed to call him Bruce) avoided him, his Uncle had rubbed the back of his neck, then put his hands on his hips, and sighed. In the end, they both decided that it was probably because Wally was on the Team, and 'Mr. Wayne' wanted to keep his personality as Batman as intact as possible.

It was rare that Wally say the fatherly side of Bruce. Dick insisted that, yes, he was like a dad to him and acted like a dad a lot but Wally just couldn't see it up until the screaming match with Wonder Woman had started about five minutes ago. Okay, well, it wasn't really a screaming match but they were getting pretty intense. And close. Apparently Dick was a heated topic between the two of them. Both Flash and Superman looked as if what they were saying wasn't very new, but Flash kept turning and looking back at the team.

"He is my son!" Wayne snapped, louder than before. "I am not shipping him off to some camp!"

"He will die out there! Monsters will be after his head!" Wonder Woman said, putting her hands on her hips and matching Batman, Bruce?, in volume.

Well, it hadn't been a screaming match before this, but they were steadily rising in volume.

"He can die in Gotham! That doesn't change the fact that he—."

"You shouldn't have taken in a child and trained him to become like you!"

Wayne jerked back, his face flashing with something akin to hurt. Superman stepped forward and pulled Wayne back, stepping between the two and holding his hands out in a calm gesture. Wally glanced over at the girls. Artemis was staring bug eyed at the Leaguers, her grey eyes flickering to Robin, Dick?, every few seconds. The boy looked pale, which was saying something, and he just looked tired. He kept shifting his weight and holding his side against where the Echidna had raked his chest. If he had heard Wonder Woman he hadn't reacted. He kept staring off in the direction of the hanger.

"I'm not having this argument again," Wayne seethed, brushing past Superman. "Dick isn't going anywhere. I'm his legal guardian—."

"He's untrained in dealing with monsters," Wonder Woman reasoned, her voice dark. "He'll be killed."

"I mean, he didn't even want me."

Everyone turned to look at Dick. He was looking up at Wayne and Wonder Woman, Diana, with dark eyes. His face was tight and the hand that wasn't curled around his stomach was almost white. "My parents, my mom died. He didn't do anything. He didn't send anyone or say anything to me. I get it, he's a god, I mean… you have a kid by accident, I don't think you'd really care about him either. I was in that detention center for two months before the courts let me go with Bruce. Why would I want to go to some place he might've wanted to send me?"

Diana looked at Dick, her eyes startled. She opened her mouth and then closed it. Wayne tried to hide a little of the triumph he felt, and walked around the Amazon to stand by his son. He kneeled down.

"I'm not going to be making this decision for you, but just know I'm always going to want you to come home with me," Bruce said, his voice softer than it had been only moments before.

Wally looked at the team, then back at the familial episode happening between Batman and Robin. Was their life even real?

Dick looked frustrated. He bit his lip and turned away, only nodding to let Bruce knew he heard and understood what he said. Diana stepped her forward, peering down to look at Dick in the eyes.

"Richard," she said, "there are rules. The gods cannot interfere with mortals. Not even their own children. Not as much as they'd like."

"He could've done something," Dick said, his voice hoarse. He looked up at Diana desperately. "Something. Anything!"

Diana only shook her head. "I'm sorry. Listen, I will not force you to go to the camp. I can't. I'm not your guardian," she glanced at Bruce as she said this, "but I think it would be the safest option. A child of the big three such as yourself… it would be unwise without proper training."

Dick looked away. "I want… I don't know. I want to go home."

Bruce reached forward to grasp Dick's shoulders. The boy looked up at him and smiled gratefully. But then he frowned and turned back to the team. "What about them? And my dream?"

Wonder Woman straightened, looking to Bruce for help. The man wasn't looking at her though, he was staring down at his son with worried eyes. Dick had always been worried about others— he was an integral part of the team now. That, coupled with the fact that his new powers and abilities were liabilities in the field until they were properly honed. Another reason to send Dick to this supposed camp. The boy was probably worried about how the team might function and what they would do. They'd figure it out, but it was a very real worry.

Dick had always had such a close relationship with his parents. The last thing Bruce needed to do was ship the boy off to some place a father had abandoned him had left. Had Mary known then? Had she known she was dating the Greek god of the sea? Bruce needed to be there for his son, and they could possibly revisit the idea of the camp later when Dick had recovered emotionally. Bruce wasn't even sure how they were handling the situation. Everything that had transpired had happened in the last several hours, and before that barely two days.

In two days. Everything had changed.

When Bruce looked down at Dick again, his eyes meet green-blue ones. He tried not to let his surprise show— Bruce supposed whatever had been keeping Dick's power and abilities at bay had ebbed away to reveal the demigod to the world. His eyes must've been hidden as a way to protect him. But it was undeniable that Dick probably took after the god, and his blue eyes would've been his last connection to his mother. The boy wouldn't be happy to look in the mirror and found tinged green ones instead. Another thing this god had unintentionally took from the boy.

Passion burned with resolve deep in the pit of Bruce's mind. He held Dick close to him, keeping the boy by his side. He wouldn't admit he was afraid. He was terrified. He had grown to love Dick as his own son and generally referred to him as such in his head, and out loud when the time called for it, and the last thing he wanted was for his son to be taken from him. He didn't want to Dick to go to the camp, or to leave and join impossibilities he couldn't even fathom. Call him selfish, because knew he was being selfish, but he wanted Dick some place safe.

It wasn't because he didn't think Dick could handle it, because that boy was more than capable, it was because he still, partly, saw that scared eight year old child who, to this day, had nightmares of his amazing parents falling to their deaths. Dick had told him, one rainy day when they'd both been home together by some coincidence, that his mother's hands had brushed by his right as she fell and that he'd hesitated. She'd said his name, barely a whisper, and it had brushed his ears just as her hands had touched his, and then they were falling. Bruce couldn't imagine hearing his mother's scared, terrified voice speak his name moments after almost grabbing him as well. He still heard her scream— and he wasn't sure what was worse.

The boy had admitted, quietly and under his breath, that right after their deaths and he'd been in that detention center he wished he had grabbed on to his mother's hand and fallen with her. Bruce hadn't even been angry. He wondered often what would have happened if he'd been shot with his parents too, if Alfred had had to have buried three bodies instead of two. He told the boy that he was glad Dick hadn't fallen with his mother and father and entire family, that he was glad Dick was there with him in the manor. He hadn't been quite sure what or how to think about Dick. Part of him had already loved him as a son, he just hadn't known it yet.

Dick had told him softly that he was glad too. Then he'd fallen asleep in Bruce's lap. Bruce had tucked him into the bed and let the boy sleep. There was still some incentive in Bruce's resolve to want to wrap the boy up and tuck him into bed. But Dick was growing up and growing older. Bruce knew he'd have to let Dick become his own man.

A terrifying thought slipped its way into Bruce's mind. What if Dick didn't make it to adulthood? Diana had insisted that most demigods didn't make it. What if Dick was just another name, another child lost to a monster that would go on living?

His gripped tightened. He was being selfish and he knew it.

Dick pulled himself away. It wasn't aggressive or an act of defiance. He simply slipped from Bruce's hands and gestured to himself.

"I need to tell you about my dream," he insisted. "It wasn't normal."

Neither he nor Wonder Woman moved first, to his surprise. Clark stepped forward, leaving Barry more or less alone as he stood stonily to the side, arms crossed. "Dick, tell us about the dream," he said.

Dick bit his lip and looked away, his eyes still that odd shade of blue-green. "I don't remember much. It was weird. I was actually there. I… was looking at a man and a woman. But they weren't people."

"Gods?" Diana asked, brow furrowed.

Dick shook his head furiously. "No. Um. Titans."

Diana actually growled, and her hands curled into fists. Her voice was dangerously low and, Bruce couldn't help it, he looked over at the team. They were all remaining surprisingly calm, probably all conversing among themselves in their mental link. He couldn't tell if Dick was involved as well or not, but the boy was too focused on the Leaguer's around him either way.

"Titans. Which ones?"

"Pro… Prometheus, I think. I don't remember the other ones names. She had red hair," Dick explained. "They couldn't see me, I don't think. If they did they didn't let on they knew. But then this hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I turned around. It was this other guy. He was taller and tan, and black hair. He was in his pajama's too I think. He asked me who I was, but Bruce woke me up before I could react." He looked back at Diana, shrugging a little like he'd just explained that his car had broken down and it was a 'it is what it is' situation.

Diana looked troubled. She crossed her arms and held her chin with her fist. "Demigods have prophetic dreams," she repeated from earlier. "It's likely you watched it happening and ran into another demigod having the same dream."

Dick looked a little surprised and then deeply troubled. "Great. More nightmares."

Diana looked between the two of them apologetically. "Speaking of dreams, it's been a long night." She turned back to Batman. "We're not done talking."

"I figured," he said dryly. "We can meet for lunch." He said it emotionlessly, his eyes dark and his lips set into a thin line.

There was a pause. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Bruce's eyes widened and for once he was almost speechless. He sputtered for a moment, the tension from earlier breaking. "I— what?"

Diana laughed. "I'll see you then."

He watched her leave and head to the Zeta-tubes. The second she materialized the voice had finished calling out her code, Dick punched him in the arm.

"You dog."

Bruce could feel red on his face. "Oh quiet. I don't see you talking to Barbara," Bruce countered, pointedly ignoring the team to their left.

Dick snapped his mouth shut and blushed bright red, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling. He rolled his eyes too, but there was a small grin there.

Bruce straightened and washed his face clean of any emotion. He was still in his pajamas and the team had now seen Dick and him without their respective masks. He'd have to brief them on the importance of their identities, if Dick hadn't already done in the possible mind-link they'd been having while he and Diana had duked it out only maybe twenty minutes before. But he couldn't have a bunch of teenagers knowing his identity without him properly telling them the importance of that knowledge. Not only did he have he, himself, and Alfred to think of, but almost all of Wayne Incorporated's employees. If he was outed as Batman, the possibilities were endless.

He knew in the end the company would be fine, assuming it didn't go under and the publicity made it all worse. But people could lose their jobs, the company could go under and he had to think of them too. And Dick. It would be likely that Dick would be ripped from him as well and placed somewhere where he couldn't be protected. So he needed to tell them. Eventually.

Right now he couldn't worry about his shattered personality as Batman. They'd seen enough the moment he'd appeared in the Zeta-tube carrying Dick and in his pajamas.

"It's getting early, actually," Clark said. "Sleep would probably be good."

"Agreed Master Superman," Alfred said, making his sudden presence known. "Now, Master Richard, I believe that it is far past your bedtime. Where is your room here?"

"Alfred!" Dick hissed, his eyes flickering to the team.

But the Butler grabbed the boy by his shoulders and guided him down one of the halls. Bruce watched them leave and then rubbed his face. He turned to the team, his face growing serious.

"I want to hear nothing about this," he said.

They all nodded furiously.

"Uh, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce looked over at Wally tiredly. "What is it?"

"Dick isn't gonna leave the team right?" the young fifteen year old bit his lip, looking up at Bruce with wide but serious eyes. He looked at all of the members. Artemis was standing directly behind Wally, her arms crossed and her body stiff. But he could tell she was nervous too. They all were. Everything was about to change.

"No," he replied, "he'll continue to be Robin and be on the team. It might take time."

Wally's shoulders fell and relief flooded the boy. "Oh. Oh, okay. Good."

Bruce nodded before he turned back to where Alfred and Dick had disappeared. Actually. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. 2 in the morning. Naturally.

"Everyone should head to bed," he said. "Clark. Barry. Talk?"

The team all looked at each other, shuffling out of the room before the Leaguers were left in silence.

Clark raised an eyebrow as Barry smirked. "You and Diana?"

"That wasn't intentional!"

* * *

 **Several Hours Later**

* * *

Dick was standing on a beach. The waves lapped at the sand gently and it was early morning. The sun was barely on the horizon, covered by thick purple clouds that cast everything in a strange blue-gold shadow. Behind him were sand dunes and then after that woods. It felt strangely at home. This was a good dream to have. He settled down in the sand, staring out over the ocean just at the wind blew his hair quietly. He dug his feet into the sand and wrapped his arms around his legs, hunching over to rest his face against his knees.

Now, he couldn't actually feel the sand and the wind or the heat of the morning from the August sun, but he felt like he could. The beach was nice and he'd always liked that. He supposed that it made sense now.

This was like where his parents had met. Well, his mom, and the Greek god Poseidon. He looked at the beach, opening his mouth to say something out loud. Maybe the god would hear him.

"Who are you?"

Dick turned and scrambled up. It was the boy from his dream before. He looked taller— maybe that was because they weren't floating over a café. He wore a bright orange shirt and khaki shorts. His feet were bare and around his neck was a necklace. He held a bronze sword tightly in his hand. Dick read the Greek on the side.

 _Anaklusmos_. Riptide.

Dick looked up at the boy. "You're the one with the sword, I think that makes you the stranger of the two of us," Dick replied.

The boy blinked, but his strange green eyes only narrowed and he held the sword up. "First I see you in my dreams and now here. Who are you? What are you?"

Dick looked the boy over again. The shirt. Camp Half-Blood. He looked up at the boy. "You're a demigod!"

He supposed his strange surprised and excited voice made the boy hesitate. The demigod paused and lowered his sword.

"Well, yeah. Um, who are you?"

"Oh, my name is Dick," Dick said, reaching forward to shake the boys hand.

"You're name is Dick?"

"It's a nickname!"

"I mean—," the boy paused. "Yeah, okay." He lowered the sword and pulled a pen cap out of his pocket, touching it to the top of the sword. It shrunk down to a pen and the boy shoved it in his pocket. "Why were you in my dream?"

Dick frowned, looking over where the sun was slowly rising above the purple clouds, turning them orange. "Are you not dreaming now?"

"No, I'm definitely awake. Are you saying you're dreaming?"

Dick looked around him again. "Yeah, definitely dreaming."

"Well, I'm not."

"Well, you gotta be."

The boy didn't even look offended. He huffed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest. He wasn't large and incredibly muscled. He was lean and fit, like a swimmer or a runner. He stood across from Dick a mischievous sort of glint somewhere in his eyes. His hair, just a couple of strands, were an odd gray color as if he'd gone gray prematurely. His arms were scarred. Dick wondered how many sword fights he'd been in.

"You're at Camp Half-blood. I'm assuming you're not a god, are you? Or a titan?"

"Uh, no," Dick replied. He couldn't keep speaking. A sudden tightness had enveloped around his throat and he choked. He reached a hand forward to grab his neck, clawing at the invisible force. The boy, why hadn't he asked for his name yet, lurched forward to grab him. His hands passed straight through Dick's shoulders.

"Hey! Hold on!"

But Dick fell to the ground, his vision blackening at the edges and suddenly spreading across his view. The last thing he saw before nothingness was the boys green eyes breaking into his, telling him it'd be okay. Dick didn't know why he trusted the boy, but he tried to relax.

The blackness was still wrapped around him, prickling his skin and tightening around his neck. Dick tried to keep from passing out, but he only could do so much before he would give in. Lights began to prickle around his vision. He couldn't tell if they were just his imagination or if they were stars. Just as his eyes flickered…

They snapped open.

* * *

 **Camp Half-Blood**

 **Now**

* * *

Percy stood helplessly as Dick flickered out of existence, disappearing into thin air. He wished that he could have done more, but every time he tried to grab the kid his hands went straight through him. As the boy disappeared, Percy picked himself off the sand and dusted off his knees and his khakis. This was the second time he'd seen the boy— the first in his dream and the second time now, when the boy had been dreaming. Percy didn't know why he'd meet this boy twice now and it wasn't like you just casually ran into Demigods in your dreams. The only time that had happened was when he had dreamed of Grover in the Bridal Shop, back when he'd been thirteen.

It wasn't like Percy had never seen people in his dreams— there always were, but generally they weren't also looking in. Percy almost wished he'd been dreaming just now, maybe then he could've touched Dick (oh dear god) and kept him from fading. There was something about the other kid that Percy couldn't place.

He might be a demigod. He said he wasn't a god or titan, but that could mean nothing. Gods were known for being especially cryptic. Then again, Percy wasn't sure if he knew of any gods named Dick.

What would they even be the god of?

Percy slumped over and scowled, heading back over the dunes and through the trees to the cabins. The sun had risen completely and he didn't have a chance to sit and think about everything. He still technically had one year of high school to go through and Camp was ending for the summer campers in a month. He was turning seventeen in a five days but he felt almost numb toward everything that had happened.

He was home again. And now he had the unsettling feeling that he'd be ripped from that all to fight a war he didn't want to.

Percy shoved his into his pockets and kicked the sand. He passed by the trees and the waking Dryad's to the pavilion. It was open, glinting with gold light, and sitting up on the hill over the cabins. Percy could already see Chiron and Annabeth sitting there with Jason, leaning over something. Probably whatever they were working on to deal with the combination of the two camps. He wondered if he should hold off telling them about his strange dreams and the odd boy. But knew that in the end it would be better to just mention it.

He walked up the steps to the pavilion, their voices growing clearer as his footsteps reverberated around the open air structure. Annabeth was the first to notice, bouncing up and looking at him with dark grey eyes. Immediately upon realizing it was Percy, she perked up and moved around the table to walk over, her curls bouncing behind her.

"Hey! What are you doing up so early?"

He pulled her closer and gave her a small one armed hug, the two moving together in a pair back to where Chiron and Jason were. "Went down to the beach. How're the plans going?"

Annabeth looked tired, glancing at Jason with a wince. "They're going. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Perce, you look white," Jason said, leaning across the picnic table with concern.

Percy winced. He guessed he was a little shaken up from watching a boy practically be choked to death by nothingness and then disappear into thin air. He sat down across from Jason, on Chiron's left. Annabeth went on Percy's other side, reaching forward to pull the construction plans on temporary cabins for Roman campers to her.

"I had a dream," Percy said, deciding to just get it done with. He knew that they would stop everything. And as much as he was loathe to admit it, he was the one who had dreams that generally meant people were going to die. First all those years ago of Kronos, and now with Prometheus. Another Titan. Another war.

Annabeth and Jason looked at him sharply. He could feel Chiron's gaze on him as well, but he kept his gaze focused solely on the plans in front of him. "Prometheus was meeting with another Titan, Mnemosyne. A war against the demigods. Someone is employing him. And…" he hesitated. "There was someone else there, watching the dream." He looked around at them. Chiron leaned back into his chair, rubbing his beard, his eyes troubled. Annabeth gripped Percy's hand, her eyes steely grey as she glared at Percy with strange conviction.

"Prometheus," Chiron whispered, "The gods must know. It's not like him to take things on like this."

Percy shook his head. "Yeah, I guess. But I saw the kid again. He was here, at the beach."

Jason perked up, his blue eyes narrowing as they brushed over the tree-line. "He was here?"

"But not really," Percy insisted, "He was dreaming and he was at the beach. Said his name was Dick. I… didn't get much else out of him except that he knew I was a demigod. He started choking before he disappeared again."

"That's… strange," Annabeth whispered, looking her boyfriend over before she turned to Chiron.

"Should we talk to Rachel?"

"That might be wise," the centaur said. "Percy, would you recognize this boy if you saw him?"

Percy hesitated. He thought of the small tanned boy with his black hair and bright blue-green eyes. He was scrawny, but Percy had seen him twice in his pajamas. He looked small, but strong in a way Percy couldn't explain. He couldn't have been older than eleven or twelve. A couple of years younger than Percy's sixteen-almost-seventeen. But Percy couldn't deny that if he was a few years younger and standing across from the boy, it would look like looking into a mirror.

It couldn't be, right? "I might, yeah. Could he be a Roman camper?"

Jason leaned forward a little again. "We could ask Frank, or Reyna. They might know. What'd he look like?"

Percy shrugged. "Small. Maybe eleven or twelve. Black hair. Tan. Blue eyes, I think, or green. Maybe he's a legacy?"

Jason smiled apologetically. "We won't know until they gather the ranks and go through all of New Rome."

"In the meantime," Annabeth interrupted, "we should go talk to Rachel. If there's a new prophecy…" She glanced over at Percy. "I'm going to head back to my cabin real quick, mind coming with?" Percy could tell he really didn't have an option, quickly standing up and following her out of the pavilion.

She didn't head back to the Athena cabin, her curls bouncing along behind her as she guided him all the way back to his cabin. She opened the door, pushing him in, and then shut it quickly behind them, sliding almost wearily down it. Percy flopped down into his messy bed, holding his hands between his legs, leaning his elbows onto his knees. She pulled herself from the door and sat down cross legged on the ground, scooting up close to him.

"When did you have the first dream?"

"The night before, and then this morning when I went to the beach, he was sitting there in the sand," Percy said, frustrated. "I don't know why I keep seeing this kid."

Annabeth bit her lip, turning away. "I don't know if I can handle another war, Percy."

He frowned and slipped off the bed, sitting down next to her. He picked up a strand of gold hair and twisted it in his hands. She leaned into him. "I know, me neither. I just can't get over this kid."

She nodded, "It is weird. Do you think… he's just a legacy?"

"No, I don't," Percy said honestly. "If… jeez. It felt like I was looking into a mirror."

Annabeth looked at him sharply, pulling away. "You don't think—."

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so. But my dad did say that maybe he'd send me a sibling after the Titan War."

Annabeth blinked, her mouth opening wide and then shutting again. "Poseidon broke the oath twice?"

Percy shrugged again, not quite sure how to feel about it. He loved having Tyson around, sure, but the idea of another… actual brother, if only by half, was weird. He supposed it was from some odd childish wish to have two parents happy and living together, no half-siblings or gods to worry about. But if he did have a brother, the kid needed to be found fast. It was clear he had already been discovered to be a demigod, the only question that remained was who. Maybe he didn't know who his parent was.

And they couldn't even be sure it was Poseidon. The boys eyes were a strange mix between green and blue, like Percy's sometimes being the sea-green. He could be a son of Zeus. Annabeth had remarked, and so had Percy's mother on multiple occasions, that Percy, Thalia (and Jason kinda), and Nico looked like family. Unlike the other demigods, who all could maybe be very distant family in terms of appearance, they all looked like family. Percy couldn't count the amount of times that he'd been on some silly quest with Thalia and someone remarked how alike they looked and oh my, they must be siblings!

"I really don't know. I could always just… ask," Percy said, "But I don't even know if I want to."

"We need to find him," Annabeth said grimly and then shook her head at Percy's questioning look. "Your possible brother, not your dad! You have to walk twenty feet to the beach, it's not that hard."

Percy laughed. "Okay, fair enough. Do you think we can? I only know his name is Dick, not even a last name. How many people are Dick's in the world?"

Annabeth covered her mouth, her shoulder shaking with laughter. Percy stared at her and then shook his head.

"That's not what I meant!"

Annabeth just laughed. "We'll figure it out. I'm not sure if Iris Messaging Dick would be a good idea."

"This is terrible. And here I thought I was the one who make the inappropriate jokes," Percy said, nudging her with his shoulder.

"Percy, you rarely talk when it isn't just the two of us," Annabeth reasoned, "And besides…" her voice grew serious. "we do need to focus on this. If there's another child of the big three out there then… they're unprotected."

"He called me a demigod," Percy said. "It's possible he might not be on our side if he hasn't started making his way here."

"You think Prometheus might have… gotten to him like Kronos did with the other demigods?" Annabeth questioned.

Percy shook his head, "I really don't know. They convinced them the gods weren't the good guys, and on their side. He didn't seem hostile, he just looked confused and scared."

Annabeth looked away, wrapping her arms around her legs. She frowned, her eyes searching the floor of Percy's cabin. It felt homey to him, but he didn't know how it felt to Annabeth. He always felt strange in the Athena cabin, perhaps it was the owl at the head in the door that peered down at him or the strange unsettling feeling like he was being watched. He always felt unwelcome, despite Annabeth's insistence he was exaggerating things.

"Well, what do we do from here?"

Percy wasn't sure. He stood up and stretched, putting his hands on his hips. He looked out one of the low windows, watching the trees stretch across the camp. He could see more campers moving around, making their way to the pavilion for breakfast. He knew that they should tell the council, and probably notify the Roman campers.

"We talk to Rachel. Assuming she has a prophecy waiting. If she does, we go from there. If not," Percy shrugged, "I'm not sure. He's showed up in my dream once, and then now in real life. We're connected somehow."

"True," Annabeth agreed, pulling herself from the floor. "Breakfast?"

"Mmhm. That sounds good, you think I could get blue coffee?"

 _ **To be Continued...**_

* * *

 **The pace will pick up soon. There's been a lot of talking and figuring things out, but now we've seen Camp and Percy and Annabeth's worries about a new war. Next chap is Dick and Wally talking, and we'll start getting things moving there. Hope everyone is enjoying! Thank you for the reviews and everything, thought I'd throw this in instead of keeping my usual silence. Feel free to PM me with questions!**


	5. The Camp

**Mount Justice**

 **The Same Morning**

* * *

Dick woke up, his hand on throat and his breathe gone. He sat there for a few moments, breathing in and out, his other hand holding tightly to the white sheets of his bedroom. After a minute, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and ran his hands through his hair.

He finally had a minute to think about everything. He was the son of Poseidon. A god. His father was not John Grayson, and while they knew that before, he wasn't still sure what to think. Did his mother know? Had she known that the man she dated was actually a god? The address had been in there, sure, but had she known? What had she told him?

Dick looked over at the cup of water on his bedside table.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered. And now he had his dreams to think about. He'd seen the boy twice now— and twice he hadn't gotten a name. Some detective he was. The boy looked eerily familiar but Dick couldn't place a finger on how. He wasn't sure where he was to go about all this. Did he tell Diana about the boy in the dreams? Did he mention the choking feeling he'd been attacked by in his dream?

Because that actually felt like he was being choked. That wasn't a dream. He actually couldn't breathe. He stood up and stretched, his hands meeting the floor behind him. He kicked his legs up and pointed his toes. The entire situation was ironic— he was the son of a sea god and loved to fly. He wondered if things like that happened for a reason or if the universe really did hate him.

And what would have happened if his parents, his real parents, hadn't died? Would they have been attacked by monsters and left to fend for themselves if Poseidon hadn't told his mother? Or what? Would his mother, the one who raised and loved him, have driven him up to Long Island and dropped him off? The circus might not have allowed it. They'd always had some hold on the families there— Dick wouldn't have just been allowed to leave. He needed to be with the other kids, Raya and Raymond.

Dick wondered if the other parents and people in the circus knew. Oh, poor Richard— his dad wasn't even his dad and his mother didn't marry the man she had a son with. Poor Richard, who didn't even know the truth. Poor orphan Rom boy whose parents died and left him in Gotham. No one would take him in, and no one would care for him. Dick fell back into a standing position, turning around and punching the wall. It cracked under his fist. He pulled it back and stared at his hand. His knuckles were scraped.

How did he even reach his supposed father?

Diana had left after flirting with Bruce and then was gone, no explanation as to actually conversing with his all-powerful and immortal parent. He turned around and shifted through his night stand and pulled out something to clean the blood away. And he wasn't even completely human!

He wasn't even completely. Human. Dick wasn't sure how to feel about that. It'd always been his thing to be human. He could do everything a meta could do and more. And now had he lost that? Did his rep change? Would he even use his powers as Robin, or would he have to constantly be holding himself back?

Were they innate or something he'd have to develop and change and strengthen?

A knock broke his thoughts and pulled his eyes from his knuckles to the door. Dick trotted over, forgoing the mask because it was pointless now, and swung the door open. Wally stood there, his eyes a little wide and a frown etched onto his face. The sixteen year old rolled back on his feet, hands clasped tightly behind his back.

"Hey, er, Dick," Wally said, wincing a little. It seemed far too casual for the past couple of days.

Dick sighed a little and opened the door further, letting the speedster walk in before shutting it again. "What time is it?"

Wally flopped down on the bed, his feet dangling off. "Like ten dude. My parents were freaking out this morning. Uncle Barry took me back to his house. We had to call and tell them it was League stuff but my mom was not happy. We just got back," Wally explained. "How are you holding up? I mean… everything with your parents…" he let his voice fade, looking away in that way people did when confronted with a topic that was uncomfortable. They really didn't talk about his parents, except for the few times Dick would bring them up or he had something that he wanted to show Wally. Dick was positive Wally had done some sort of research on the Flying Grayson's.

Dick sat down on the bed, cross legged. "I just kinda feel numb, honestly."

Wally nodded.

Dick continued. "I just don't get it. I mean, okay they were going to tell me when I was eighteen. But did my mom know? Did she know who my dad, my biological dad, really was? I don't understand everything and how everyone could just look at me and never tell me…"

"You were only eight dude," Wally said, his voice comforting, "What were they going to say? I mean, it was best to let your parents decide."

Dick nodded, his anger fading a little. "I guess. I wonder if John knew."

"Your… dad?"

"Cousin," Dick corrected, "Well, I guess we weren't really blood related but I just wonder if he knew I wasn't actually like, you know, a Grayson."

Wally gave a weak laugh. "Maybe you should change your name to your moms."

"Lloyd? Makes more sense to change it to Wayne now," Dick said. He sat up, the idea striking him.

"You'd do that?" Wally asked, blanching. He knew that Dick had been against it— Grayson had been his one last connection to his parents. He was proud of his family name. Dick had mentioned that Bruce had subtly pushed the idea before, not enough to offend Dick but enough to make it clear that he wouldn't mind Dick carrying the family name.

"I don't know," Dick replied honestly, "Maybe. I mean, I don't have to get rid of Grayson either. I can just tack Wayne on at the end. And I mean," he bit his lip, "I know Bruce has wanted to officially adopt me for a while. I'm just his ward right now, just someone to carrying on the company and inherit things if something happens to him. I'm the one who hasn't been pushing it. He's giving me time, but still." He shrugged, flopping down on the bed and spreading his arms wide. Wally turned in his direction.

"So wait, anyone who actually wanted to adopt you could just… put in a request? How does that even work?"

Dick shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm a ward of the state, technically, but Bruce is my legal guardian. But, technically, yeah if someone felt compelled to they could I think. Makes no sense now, if anyone would have they would've done it five years ago."

Wally nodded, picking himself up and slouching over. "Oh okay."

There's a long silence between them. Dick can feel there's still more Wally wants to discuss, but they've already ventured into awkward territory. And it wasn't that neither wanted to discuss the clear elephant in the room (You're the son of a god and oh you might be leaving forever to go to some summer camp), but Dick wasn't sure if he could handle any more talk about it and Wally wasn't even sure where to start.

The redhead let a small, sly grin creep across his face. "So, Bruce and Wonder Woman huh?"

Dick tried to school his features. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on! She likes him! She wouldn't have teased him about it being a date if she didn't, and he didn't exactly complain either," Wally insisted, poking the younger boy in the arm. Dick squirmed out of the way.

"Okay, just don't tell anyone!" Dick hissed. "Yeah, there's a thing there. But it's not that big of a deal and they keep it on the down low. Most of the league doesn't know, not really. Diana's identity is public, and Bruce's isn't. So they either date as Wonder Woman and Batman, which would kinda ruin the Batman-aesthetic, or as Diana and Bruce."

"Which does he prefer?"

"Oh, definitely Diana and Bruce," Dick replied, "Plus… I think he wants me to think of her as like a mom figure. Which, I guess, I kinda do. She's great and I know she makes him happy. But they get into a lot of fights about me, funny enough, so…"

"How young you are?" Wally guessed, wincing at Dick's pained look.

"Yeah. She says I'm still too young. I _was_ too young I think, but I understand why he did it," Dick said.

Wally nodded in understanding, but Dick continued before he could reply.

"We didn't start as… I didn't want to see Bruce as my dad, you know. I didn't want that. I wanted a partner, someone who'd understand and I could trust, but not a dad. I already had one. But then it just kinda happened. He looked at me that way I think before I saw him any differently than _just_ my partner. And I mean," Dick lolled his head back and forth, juggling his thoughts. "I mean, I still see him as my partner but also as my dad. Which is weird, he's only like… thirty-four."

"Batman is only thirty-four?" Wally wondered.

Dick smacked him in the arm. "Not the point!"

Wally clapped the red-hand mark on his arm, pulling away with a grin. "Okay! Okay! Yeah! I understand actually. Uncle Barry is like… my mentor, and my uncle, but I think I look for his approval the same way I do my dad."

"Your dad is cool," Dick said, his voice tired.

"Yeah. I mean, so is yours."

"I have like three now, you'll have to be more specific," Dick said, smiling a little.

Wally opened his mouth to reply just as a knock echoed through the room. The two glanced at each other, Dick turning around to hesitate when he went for his glasses. He really didn't need them anymore. His hand fell.

"Come in."

M'gann slowly pushed open the door. "Uh, hey Robin… Wally."

Dick shook his head. "You don't have to call me Robin anymore. Dick is fine."

"I don't know if Connor and I are comfortable with that," she said honestly, smiling in apology. "But I just wanted to say that your, uh, Butler made breakfast for everyone." She rocked back on her heels, wringing her hands in front of her. "He asked if I would 'be a dear and go fetch Master Dick and Master Wallace.'" She paused. "Your name is Wallace?"

Dick turned and watch Wally's face turn bright red. "It's not that bad!"

Dick laughed. "It's that bad!"

"You choose Dick!"

"Richard is too formal!"

Wally pushed Dick off the bed, who fell into a roll and sprang up right in front of the Martian. The girl grinned, a wide toothy smile, and dropped back still holding the door. Dick thanked her and slipped past, Wally zipping past the two and down the hall for food. They followed her, arriving in the kitchen where the rest of the team, including Aqualad, were waiting.

The Atlantean turned to Dick and stared, his eyes wide.

"Uh, hey Kal."

"You're the son of Lord Poseidon," Kaldur said, his voice even.

Dick hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah, I am. I guess."

"You're a prince."

"I guess?"

Artemis, sensing that Kaldur was making the boy uncomfortable, reached forward and grabbed Dick by the shoulders. "Hey, you!"

Dick blinked, looking at Artemis in her grey eyes. "What?"

"How'd you sleep?"

"Uh, fine I guess."

She slipped onto the stool and folded her arms, leaning onto the counter. The team crowded around too, Wally sliding in next to her. Alfred remained quietly flipped bacon, but Dick knew the man was listening. "So, we go to school together. Huh. 'We'll laugh about this someday'?"

Dick blushed, shrinking back with an apologetic smile on his face. "I thought it'd be a little later when you knew my ID. Whoops."

The girl laughed, trying to make it seem less forced than it was. "Did you finish that essay for Mrs. Littig? I couldn't find a ton of sources, honestly," she said, looking down at her plate. Alfred distributed the plates to the team members, full of bacon, eggs, and toast with slices of ham on them.

Dick perked up, suddenly glad for the normalcy despite the members of the team around them. "I can send you mine! I found some great ones on the Library of Congress, and the Archives had some great pictures. Their database sucks though," he said, shoveling eggs into his mouth.

The cave suddenly began to shake, the rocks above them shifting a little with a resounding shake. The entire team rocked forward, plates clattering against the stone counter. Wally immediately zipped out of the kitchen toward the sound and Artemis and Dick both grabbed knives and sprinted out. The rest of the team followed with Aqualad's quickly barked order.

Dick sprinted out, holding only a small butter knife to the hanger. The bay door beneath the water had been wrenched open by the a strange creature. It's long neck arched over the team and it had chicken like feet at the base of its scaly body. There were multi-colored luminescent wings that were weighing down its body as it pulled itself from the water, clawing at the base of the mountain. It's tail ripped from the water, throwing it everywhere, and on it was another head.

"No way!" Wally said, "There's no way! How does that thing even sh—!"

It screeched, slamming down a chicken foot onto the ground of the mountain. It thrusted it's long first head at them, a forked tongue flickered out of its toothy mouth. It's eyes glowed like lightning, a blazing blueish white color that had no whites or pupils.

"Maintain distance," Aqualad ordered, throwing his hand out to the team.

Dick walked backward, one hand holding his stomach and the other the butter knife. The creature must've been at least fifteen feet tall, towering over them. It turned directly toward him and screeched again.

Another Greek monster. Dick wondered what the others saw.

Dick sprung out of the way and rolled as it spit acid at him. He held onto his stomach tightly, wincing. Superboy screamed, launching himself at the creature. He grabbed its back horns, wrestling it for control as its first head screeched in terror.

"Superboy, watch out!" Raquel screamed, her face twisting in horror as the other tail-head turned and spat acid. Superboy leapt out of the way just in time. But the acid didn't burn away at the creatures skin, only dripping off onto the water.

The water. Dick needed to get to the water.

But how. He looked around him. The creature clearly wasn't a sea-creature— it's wings clearly weren't meant to be dipped in water. But it was after him— and this was the most open way into the mountain without pummeling through it. But it's body was massive and it covered the water almost completely from access with sharp talon chicken feet. But the thing clearly wasn't very flexible. It had had to turn the head around completely, yes, but it couldn't bend down back. It was being weighed down.

But he really didn't need to get to the water.

"Hey!" he called. "Distract it! I have a plan!"

He lurched to the right, sliding under another shower of acid where he'd just been. The rock sizzled and boiled. Dick tried not to think about how much his chest hurt and flung the butter knife at the creatures eye. It loomed over him, teeth dripping acid. It jerked out of the way, the acid flying. Zatanna and M'gann dodged to the right, the magician throwing up a shield. Artemis followed suit, her knife piercing it's neck. It bounced off the scales, but both heads were focused on her now, eyes cackling and it's greasy face dripping the powerful acid.

Artemis took several steps back, eyes wide. Wally was there in an instant, swooping her up and taking her to where Zatanna and M'gann were.

"I need my arrows!"

"On it!"

It lowered its body, talons curling, and flung its massive head to the side, knocking both Zatanna and M'gann out of the way. They rolled against the ground, skidding across the floor to where it had chugged acid at them earlier. M'gann's leg rolled over it before she tumbled out of the way and her strong cry of pain echoed around them. Zatanna shoved her further from it with a magic spell before she passed out, her arm falling limply. The fight wasn't going their way— not that M'gann rocks and Zatanna's spells were doing much. Either magic didn't work against the Greek creatures, which was unlikely, or it was a specific type of magic.

Dick lifted himself off the floor, desperately wishing for his belt. He watched Connor, Kaldur, and Raquel fight it, pounding it back and dodging the acid. Dick felt his stomach twist— he knew that feeling. He curled his hand into a fist and wretched it to the left. A giant fist made of water appeared out of nowhere, knocking the creature to the side. Nothing appeared to damage it. He threw another water punch from above, beating it back into the water. Artemis shot arrows at it, but either she was feeling sick and her aim was off or she couldn't properly see where the creature was.

He ran forward and wretched his other hand to the side. The water didn't form a fist, but a giant wave lurched the creature to the side again. There was a shout and suddenly Wonder Woman came out nowhere, her sword pointed straight to the chest of the creature. It exploded into a cloud of gold dust, showering everything around them. Only a single scale remained, floating on the tumulus water. Dick walked over and waded through the water. He straightened, a flood of power coursing through him and he felt the pain in his chest ease. He plucked the scale from the water.

"A spoil of war," Diana said, "For defeating the Amphisbaena."

"To go both ways," Dick said to the Greek. He looked down at the scale before he handed it to her. "You killed it, you deserve it."

Diana looked at it for a moment before she accepted it, attaching it to her waist. "Alfred called Batman and I. When I heard the screeching I flew here immediately."

Dick looked around at the team. Zatanna and M'gann were both out of commission now. Artemis had her arrows, but she'd thrown her arrow back in her quiver and was helping Raquel out of one of the large claw marks. The other girls leg was bent stiffly at an odd angle and she winced every time she had to walk on it. "It was after me."

"Yes," Diana said truthfully. It hadn't been a question.

"I need to leave, don't I?" Dick said, his voice dropping.

Diana didn't say anything as Batman entered the cave. But Dick already knew the answer anyway.

"Is everyone alright?"

"I'm fine," Dick said, and a chorus of 'We're good!'s and 'we're okay's! echoed around the hanger. Batman walked over to Dick and Diana. Dick was still standing in the water, head cleared and the injury on his chest barely bothering him. He grinned at his mentor. He hoped the man couldn't tell it was strained.

"I beat the crap out of it with water fists!"

"It was super cool!" Wally called from the other side of the chamber, poking the acid with a piece of scrap metal where part of the pipes had been revealed beneath the Amphisbaena's claws.

"Let's get everyone to Med-bay," Batman said, glancing at Wonder Woman as he lifted his arm beneath Raquel and helped Artemis carry her.

"I'm fine!" the girl insisted. "I can fly!"

"You'll jostle it, and we don't know what's wrong yet," Batman said, his voice steady.

The girl sputtered but kept her mouth shut, the three disappearing down the hall. Connor followed with M'gann in his arms. Zatanna was awake, if a little shaky, and held her head as she trudged behind. Soon it was just Artemis, Wally, Dick and Diana. The other two looked shaky as well, Artemis glancing behind at the gold dust that blew in the nonexistent wind. Wally was vibrating with energy.

"That was a really weird chicken! So what was it actually?"

Dick blanched. "You thought you were fighting a chicken."

Artemis shrugged, smiling a little at the redhead. "I saw an eagle, but I guess a chicken would make sense."

"You just attacked it without question!"

"Well, it was after you. I mean, we figured. So yeah," Wally said, rubbing a hand through his hair. "But still, a giant chicken or eagle or whatever comes in and starts screeching and throwing, ugh, what was it?"

"Acid?"

"Yeah, it looked like drool but given how it was spitting it everywhere, I figured it wouldn't be best to get caught," Wally admitted. Artemis nodded behind him, looking back at the hanger.

"It was an Amphisbaena, it was born of the blood that dripped from Medusa's head," Diana replied from behind them. She'd slung her sword back into its sheath, walking up behind them. Dick jumped out of the water and immediately felt weary. He hadn't just felt like he was in a battle only moments ago until he was out of it, but he supposed that given water would strengthen him. At least Gotham had the city docks. "That is a fitting beast for you to go up against, given your fathers relationship with the Gorgon."

Dick blinked. "Uh, what?"

But Diana had turned away from them, back to Wally and Artemis. The two subconsciously straightened, probably due to really not having many interactions with the League that much. Wally kept glancing at Dick out of the corner of his eyes. Dick motioned for the fifteen year old to stop, but then a smile began to creep up the boy's face.

"I need to speak to Richard alone for a moment," Diana said, her eyes flickering around the damaged hanger.

The two blinked and then glanced at each other before they glanced at Dick.

"We'll meet you two in a moment. Tell Bats we'll be there soon," he lied. Wally hesitated a moment longer than Artemis did, but she pulled him away with a feeble smile to the Amazon. They disappeared down the hall, their footsteps fading into nothing. Diana turned to Dick with a hardened look in her eyes, putting her hands on her hips.

She spoke only one word. "Go."

Dick hesitated only for a second before he turned and sprinted toward the dorms. He only slowed to let Wally and Artemis turn into the hall toward Med-bay and then booked it past them. He skidded past his door and quickly opened it, slamming it shut behind him. He took a moment to breathe. It was his fault his team members were injured, that this Amphisbaena had come after them, and that he wasn't even able to protect them.

He snatched a backpack underneath his bed and threw the only clothes he kept there into the bag. He slipped his pajamas off and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. And his uniform— he stuffed his belt in and then his holo-gloves. He could grab a tooth brush and stuff later, stuffing his wallet with the intent to buy one later on. He hesitated over his sunglasses. He'd go at Richard Grayson. He could always change his name later. He slung the backpack over his shoulders and only paused to look at his not-room one last time. He wished he was leaving from the manor. But any stops would mean he'd be found.

He turned and closed the door, running to the living room before he paused, kneeling down and looking around. It was empty— most likely everyone was still at Med-bay. He walked calmly to the Zeta-tube platform, punching in the option for New York City. It was the closest to Long Island and, admittedly, the most obvious. He would wipe it before it logged into the system. There was generally a ten second delay. Dick plugged his computer in, having pulled out his gloves, and tapped along the keyboard. His location would be listed at Jump City as his final destination instead of New York, just to give him a little bit of time.

Bruce would think he could be running to the camp, which he was, but Dick wanted a little bit of time before he guardian got there. Even if it was only a minute or two delay… it was something.

He stuffed his glove into the backpack.

"Dick, you're leaving?"

The thirteen year old whirled around, his hands curling into fists. Wally stood at the entrance to the living room.

"I came to get an ice pack but…"

"Just for a bit," Dick said hurriedly. "I just… I need to go there, just to talk and find some things out. You guys are in danger. Please don't say anything to Bruce. He'll figure out where I am soon enough."

Wally opened his mouth to argue, but Dick turned and sprang into the Zeta-tube. The last thing he heard was the computer calling his name and Wally shouting. Or maybe he wasn't shouting. Dick wasn't sure.

He appeared in New York City a moment later. He dusted himself off and pulled his computer from his backpack and slammed his holo-glove port into the zeta. Jump City. It appeared on the screen. Star City, then Metropolis, then Jump. Several hours in between. There, better than couple of minutes. They would appear when the program Dick uploaded needed to. This had originally been part of contingency plan he'd created as a kid. Bruce didn't know about it and it was relatively simple (Dick had been ten) so he hoped that it would work as intended. Dick hoped Wally would keep his mouth shut— he knew he would, but the thought that he'd be caught was worse than being attacked by another monster. He'd be grounded for life.

He jumped from the Zeta-tube, appearing in a tattered alley. He shut the zeta-tube behind him, the door creaking. New York was nicer than Gotham, but the concept of dirty city, busy people remained the same. It would be easy to navigate, but it was a matter of getting to where he needed to be. At least he wouldn't see the normal Gotham. The air was hot and humid and he was already sweating as he navigated through the swarm of people.

He hadn't wanted to leave. But it was the right thing to do. And what else was he gonna do? Clearly the mountain could be compromised by the monsters and it wasn't worth the lives of his team. He had the option to train somewhere, why wouldn't he take it? If he could save lives then why wouldn't he do it? He didn't want to leave Bruce or Alfred or Barbara. He would miss the Manor and watching movies late at night when Bruce decided to skip patrol. He would miss playing basketball with the man, or being challenged to gymnastics competitions that Bruce knew he'd lose at.

He turned around a street corner, spotting some taxi's driving down the road. It would be expensive, but he had enough cash. Couldn't risk using his card so that Bruce could see.

A wrist grabbed his hand.

"Hey!" he snapped, turning around with his fist curled.

A man was standing there. He didn't look remotely dangerous, but Dick knew looks could be deceiving. He wore a prim suit, not expensive but nice, and had greying hair and dark eyes. "You lost?" He was looking at Dick strangely, as if trying to place his face.

"It's a grid system, motherfu—."

The man's eyes widened, "Whoa, no worries. I just wanted to make sure."

Dick wrenched his wrist away from the man, gritting his teeth. "Yeah well, it's not your problem. I know my way around." Dick was thankfully he had his sunglasses. The man blinked and Dick turned and disappeared, walking in sync with someone down the road. After a block Dick slowed down and looked around him. The man was nowhere to be found, thankfully, so he walked over to the road and hailed a cab. It took a while, most of the cabbies seeing a kid who more or less looked like a runaway. Most people drove by or went to the other's around him, to his chagrin.

He walked further up the road, passing by some thrift stores and a jewelry store and tried again. Several more passed by, but one stopped and stood still in front of him. The man driving the cab was short and with light skin. He wore a baseball cap over his head and chewed tobacco, glaring at Dick as he slid into the door.

"Where ya headed kid?"

"3.141 Farm Road on Long Island?"

The man grunted and punched in the address before peeling off on the road. Dick relaxed a little, finally glad to be out of the danger. This man didn't look any better, but Dick felt that if he was gonna get murdered by a taxi driver he had other things to worry about. He settled down in the back, taking his backpack off and rummaging through it. There were several texts from Bruce, but Dick turned his phone off and slipped the sim card out. He should've done it at the cave but hadn't had the time.

Bruce would be angry. Which was reasonable. Dick wondered if he'd call the police to search for him— probably not. Sure, they had cover stories for if Dick went missing on a mission or something and wasn't recovered in time for people to start taking notice but those were back up plans to back up plans and Bruce wouldn't use them unless he was sure he couldn't track Dick.

He wondered what his parents would say. The only thing he could see was Bruce's disappointed face. He couldn't even hear his moms voice anymore. Like, sure, he could hear her singing and talking but not actually how her voice sounded like. Or his dad's.

"You got family out there?"

"Something like that," Dick said honestly.

The taxi driver grunted. Pulling out of the city and the highway and onto backroads. Trees passed by them and farms, all blurring together. Dick settled back down in the back seat. His fingers tapping against his knees. He could feel the cabbie's eyes on him, flickering back into the rearview mirror every once in a while. Dick tensed, an unsettling feeling coming over him. He pulled two batarangs from his backpack and slipped them into his pockets, then he slowly zipped his it closed and pulled it on.

"We close?"

"Patience kid," the cabbie said, his voice low.

Dick tensed. Then he threw a fist at the cabbie and sprang back, unlocking the door and throwing himself from the car. He heard the cabbie curse and the car skid along the street, turning to block both lanes. Dick picked himself up, his shoulder aching from the impact. Of course. He stumbled away from the cab as the man appeared in front of him, razor sharp teeth opening in his mouth.

"Ah, kiddie, good food," it snarled.

Dick's mind flashed back to the Echidna. _Mortal weapons can't kill me!_

So his belt was useless. The creature had doubled in size, it's limbs stretching and elongating into claws. It's body was stumpy and squat despite its size. Small spikes appeared on its back and down his arms. His teeth were razor sharp and his mouth stretched into an uncanny grin. If Dick didn't know better, he would've assumed it was a mutated Joker. Well, more mutated. He steadied himself for a fight, pulling his fists up.

The thing licked it's chapped blueish lips. Then it lunged. Dick jumped out, adrenaline pumping, and leapt on top of the creature, falling behind it and skidding in the grass. It turned around, swinging it's large spiked arm before Dick leapt out of the way and rolled across the cracked pavement. He looked over at the car. Okay. Yeah.

The creature wailed. "Come here, kiddie!"

"Not a kid!" Dick grunted, lunging away from another spiked arm. He rolled toward the cab, which was still running, and landed several feet from it when he felt a long taloned hand wrap around his ankle. "Ah!"

"Kiddie!" it repeated, pulling him back toward him. Dick pulled a batarang from his pocket, thankful he had them, and hacked away at the creatures arm. The thing screamed, pulling back. "No fair!"

"Yes, fair!" Dick insisted, scrambling up and away from the creature. He jumped over the car, his hand landing on the roof, and then sprang over it, landing in a crouch. He was up in a second and into the car, slamming the door shut behind him. He shifted the car into reverse and turned the wheel and slammed on the gas. The car shot back and into the creature, hitting it with a thump. Dick shifted the car into drive and it lunged forward as he stepped into the gas.

He didn't bother running it over again— without some sort of sword he couldn't defeat the creature. That seemed to be the common theme. Swords. He'd defeated Echidna with one, and Wonder Woman had defeated the Amphisbaena with one.

Maybe it was the material?

Didn't matter now. He raced down the road, only slowing down when he was sure the creature was behind him.

"Whoa," he finally breathed. The adrenaline was still pumping in his veins. He could feel the thrill of the fight. His shoulder was still aching from throwing himself out of the car at 35 mph, but the pain was dull. Hopefully they'd have medical room at the camp. Which, well, it was a camp for Greek demigods. If they didn't that'd be a severe oversight on their part. He thought back to when he had gone with Bruce into the office, and he'd learned the term 'severe oversight on their part' when Bruce was yelling at shareholder for some lack of something or the other.

A sign for 'pick your own strawberries' caused Dick to slow the cab before he finally crawled to a stop. Over top a hill was a tall pine tree with a dragon wrapped around it. A measly sign with cracked paint said 3.141. A kid with armor stood at the top of the hill, peering down at him. It was hard to see with the sun blaring down on his eyes, but Dick shut the cab off and pulled himself from the vehicle. His shoulder throbbed and he could feel his ankle shaking as he walked up the grassy hill.

The kid held their sword out at him, eyes narrowing behind a helmet. "Don't take a step closer!"

Dick hesitated, unsure of who to even ask for. He doubted, 'Hi, yeah, could I please speak to Poseidon? Oh, he's busy not being here? Okay, that's fine I'll come back at a later time' would fly. "This is Camp Half-Blood, right?"

The kid paused. He was a couple years older than Dick, but not by much. "Yeah. You're a little late to the party though."

Dick peered around the armored demigod. There was a large blue cabin in the distance surrounded by strawberry fields. Around that was an inner-u of what appeared to be brightly decorated cabins and then more surrounded those to form an outer-u. "Uh, yeah. I gotta talk to whoever is in charge."

"I can't just let you into—."

"What's going on here?"

That voice. Dick knew that voice! Climbing up the hill from the other side was the boy from Dick's dreams. He was taller than Dick thought and more tanned. His hair was tousled to the side and his feet were sandy and bare. When the boy looked at Dick, his eyes widened. He moved forward, sword appearing from nowhere. Before Dick could react, the boy pushed him out of the way and thrust his short leaf-shaped sword right at the not-taxi-driver from before. The creature wailed and burst into a shower of yellow, gold powder. Dick looked at the boy in the eyes.

"So," he said, capping his sword and turning it back into a pen. The guard behind him looked at the gold powder in the ground in terror. "Nice to meet you in person, I'm Percy."

 ** _To be continued..._**

* * *

 **They're finally meeting in person! Yay!**

 **Also just briefly to the anon who said that Dick and Bruce don't have a father/son relationship... did we watch the same show? You might be thinking of the New 52 where Dick's older when B takes him in and Bruce is a little younger.**

 **Also been researching swords/ancient weapons like crazy. Not limiting myself to Greek weaponry though! If anyone has any suggestions for Dick that'd be great. I'm leaving on vacation on Sunday 06/04 so I won't post at all next week. I have time to post this week however, so you'll get a few more chapters out of me yet! Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. The Brother

**Camp Half-Blood**

* * *

Percy watched the boy waver for a moment, holding his shoulder. The boy's blue eyes— aha, they were blue— flickered. Percy and the guard, Andrew, both lunged forward to catch him. Percy shouldered most of the weight, taking the boy up in his arms. He carried Dick princess style, straightening his legs. He turned back to the guard.

"Go get Jason, Piper, and Annabeth. And, uh, Chiron. Tell them I'm heading to the beach, I need to test a theory," he said, jerking his head toward the Big House.

They hesitated only a moment before sprinting off down the opposite hill toward the house. Percy shouldered the boy and, even with the strange blue eyes, he still felt a strange protective need to make sure he was alright. He followed the guard down the hill but turned and walked straight toward the beach, looking down to make sure the kid was still out. He looked worse for wear, his arms bruised and a little scarred. His hair was mussed, and not in that purposely-messed-up way, but grungy and dirty.

Percy walked through the trees and felt the eyes of the dryads on him. Their whispers carried on the wind, the breeze blowing both his hair and Dick's. He walked up the dunes, over the sand, and to the beach. Dick's head turned toward the word, mumbling something under his breath. He stopped and turned when he heard people walking behind him. Annabeth and Piper appeared behind him, Annabeth's face scrunched up in confusion. Percy only shook his head and kept walking toward the water.

Slowly he waded in and lowered the boy down. He could feel the strength of the sea helping him, improving his senses. He felt the cut on his foot from earlier heal over. Dick shifted in his arms, the water crawling over his shoulder and arms. It didn't heal old scars, but it would heal his wounds to an extent. And it was clear that the water was healing the boy, wrapping around his injuries and curing them. He winced when Dick's shoulder popped.

Slowly, the water receded and his eyes opened. They were green.

"Percy?"

"Hey, Dick," the older boy said. "You made it to camp."

"Yeah." Dick replied, smiling a little before he looked around himself. "I'm in the water?"

"Heals you. Come on." Percy let the boy leave his arms. He barely came up to Percy's chest and the water came up to the top of his thighs. He smiled at him a little, but it seemed forced, and his eyes looked dark. They both waded back to shore together. The boy stared at Annabeth and Piper, who'd been joined by Jason, at the beach. The demigods looked nervous and Percy could feel his girlfriend's grey eyes on his face, looking him over for something. What exactly that was he wasn't sure.

Confidence? Pride for guessing the boys heritage? He didn't feel either. He felt sorrow, really. Another demigod that might not make it, another that might have to die. And for what? Another millennium of mindless fear of war? The earth held its breath, decreeing the lives of people with no meaning. No thought. And this time… this time Percy had a personal connection. More than before. This moved beyond his loyalty to friends. This boy was his brother, a son of Poseidon. Maybe only by half, but that hadn't stopped him with Tyson. He'd done more for less.

Dick hesitated about leaving the water, looking at all of them with narrowed eyes. "How'd you know the water would heal me? I didn't even…" he paused, snapping his mouth shut. It was clear that he wasn't letting them know how much he knew of his abilities on purpose. Enemies who knew your weaknesses also tended to be victors as well.

Percy paused, glancing at Annabeth. The girl nodded once. A short, curt nod to let him know that it was alright. He turned to look at Dick. Small, short but with strong, very strong, arms. Black hair and tanned, gold skin— darker than Percy's, and green eyes. They seemed to flicker a bit with blue, clearly not deciding what color they wanted to stay at. He looked haggard, circles beneath his eyes. Slowly though, the boy was regaining his strength. He rubbed his shoulder unconsciously, rocking it back and forth.

He let out a breath. "My dad is Poseidon too."

The boy froze. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy say Jason and Piper snap back to look at him, their eyes wide.

Dick shook his head. "I… don't understand," but his voice was strained. Tired.

"You need sleep," Percy insisted. "The water heals you but it doesn't… fix everything. You need some ambrosia. You'll feel better then."

Dick hesitated, not looking at Percy in the eyes. He turned away slightly, looking down at the blue water at their feet. It lapped against the legs, the waves lazy. Percy wondered if his, their, dad was looking at them now. "If I stay here?"

"You'll heal," Percy shrugged. "But it would be nicer in a bed." He held his hand out, looking the boy up and down. T-shirt, shorts. He wore chucks and his left sock had a hole in it. But he didn't look dirty or like he lived on the street.

"I guess," Dick bit his lip, "Okay. I'll eat something. And maybe sleep would be good too."

He grabbed Percy's hand and they walked out of the water. The second they were far enough away, the boy wavered. Jason reached forward to grab him and Dick gave him a small smile. They shouldered the younger boy and walked in a staggerly fashion back to the big house. Around them, campers stopped and paused to look over. Annabeth and Piper trailed behind, watching with careful eyes.

Chiron was waiting at the house, standing there with his arms folded over his chest. They walked up the steps, Dick's eyes widening as he took in the centaur before they disappeared in the door. Slowly, it was shut behind them. They walked over to one of the couches and laid the boy down. He winced.

"I'll get ambrosia," Jason volunteered.

Percy slipped down the side of the couch and sat in front of it, arms holding his legs up. Chiron looked down at Dick, his eyes deeply troubled.

"You've cause quite the fuss around here," the centaur said, back hooves hitting the floorboards softly.

Dick smiled a little, blinking up at the centaur. "Where is here? I know it's a camp but…"

"Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth replied, pulling up one of the armchairs and peering down at the boy. She seemed oddly restrained, held back by something. Percy wondered if she was thinking back when they had first met— him on the couch and her shoving nectar into his mouth to shut him up. "The camp to train Demigods. Where'd you hear about it?"

"A friend," the boy said nonchalantly, eyes drifting away from the blonde to where Jason was bringing in a platter of ambrosia bars. The Roman demigod leaned down and handed him the bar.

"It'll help. But only a little. Just take a piece off," he said, nodding in encouragement.

Dick chipped off a bit and put the bar back on the plate. He looked at the caramel colored bar before he slowly bit into a small part of it. His eyes widened and he quickly swallowed it whole. "Tastes like a scone," he said, looking up at all the people around him. Percy nodded, a small grin on his face.

"Do you know what attacked you?" he asked, leaning forward a bit, tilting his body to face the boy. Dick squirmed a little, lifting himself up, and inspected the big house.

"Wasn't the first monster," he said, eyeing the plate of ambrosia. They could see the color return to his pale face a little. "No, that was Echidna."

"How'd you fight?" Piper asked, twisting Katoptris in her hands. It wasn't threatening and the boy was clearly unarmed. He seemed resourceful, but there was only so much you could do untrained.

Dick hesitated. "My dad. His dad, my grandfather, collected swords. I grabbed one off the wall on instinct to kill it. Turned the thing into gold dust. Second was the Amphisbaena. Third was whatever that guy was, I'm not even sure." He shifted up and turned to face all of them properly, his blue-green eyes hard with something. It was like what Percy saw in his eyes in the mirror— hardened from danger, aware of his surroundings, and very, very tired.

Percy glanced at Annabeth before he turned back to Dick. "The sword must've had celestial bronze in it then, or another magical metal. Did you keep the sword? How'd you kill the other two?"

"Didn't," Dick said, shrugging. He winced and held his shoulder. "It's still sore."

Jason broke off another piece of the ambrosia bar. "That's all your body will be able to handle before it starts to burn up."

Dick popped it in his mouth and chewed, testing out his shoulder again. "I jumped out of the car. Figures."

"You jumped out a moving car to escape the monster?" Piper asked straightening a little and looking at Jason for a brief second before she turned back to Dick. The boy looked guarded and hesitant, which wasn't uncommon in demigods who'd just been attacked. But he seemed to trust them, at least a little, and Percy was more or less a familiar face in the crowd.

"Yeah. I didn't want to die, and if I distracted him while driving I would be more dead than him. Nothing can seem to kill those things," the boy replied, looking at all of them with wide eyes.

"Does your mother know you're here?" Chiron asked.

Dick blinked. "I'm adopted. No mom, just my dad. And, uh, no. He doesn't." He winced a little and held the cushion of the couch tightly in his fist, gathering up the old and loose material.

Chiron seemed surprised by this information, but didn't look overall displeased. "We can call him. I just need a name."

"Thomas Wayne," Dick said, "My name is John. Dick's a nickname. But don't call him! I needed to do this." Clearly there was more of a story there, but the boy was tightlipped. There wasn't any confusion in his features, just trained hesitance and weariness.

"You're name is John Wayne?" Piper asked, a smile seeming to reach up on her face. Dick blushed a deep red, rubbing the back of his neck in the same fashion that Percy did when he was nervous. He'd made an unintentional movie reference.

"Yes?"

"That's not the important thing," Annabeth, looking at Piper curiously. She turned and looked at Chiron. "We still haven't gone to Rachel and gotten a prophecy. If there is one. And we just found Dick. He needs to get situated into the camp." She paused a moment and looked down at him. "How did you kill the other monsters?"

"We can worry about questions later," Percy said, pulling himself up off the couch. "I'll take Dick to my… our cabin. Clearly he's already been claimed."

"Is that what the green trident meant?"

They all turned to look at him. Everyone in the room was older than him. He was only thirteen, and Percy and the blonde girl— he still didn't have names— looked like they were several years older than him. Maybe still in high school, but old enough where they probably were close to being finished. The other boy, who'd given him the food, looked like he was Wally's age. There was a small scar on his lip and his eyes were a clear crystal blue's. The girl, choppy hair and a look in her eyes that reminded him of Artemis despite the fact that he couldn't determine their color, was shorter and darker skinned, like him. Chiron was, if Dick knew his mythology, probably the original Chiron who'd trained Hercules.

So that was either very cool or very terrifying. He would admit that he was, out of all things, a little overwhelmed.

"Yeah," Percy said slowly, helping Dick from the couch. "That's what that meant."

Dick already felt a thousand times better. He'd gotten worse from Gotham villains usually, but he supposed the stress from the past couple of days was wearing on him enough. He could really use a nice nap. He was at the camp. Safe. Protected. The last thing he needed was more questions on where he was coming from.

And he had a brother.

The two walked down out of the large house, down the steps and toward the U formation of brightly colored cabins. Dick looked at the boy before him. Percy was lean, tall, and had a look on his face that said 'however bad you think you are, I'm worse'. There was a barcode tattoo on his arm, or what looked to be the start of one given that there was only one line, and the letters SPQR. Dick couldn't help but mentally read it as 'spork' which would probably offend some people if he said that out loud.

Dick wondered what his life was like, if he'd known he was a demigod or if had all been thrust on him. Did his mother know? Was she even still alive? Dick wondered if she knew where her son was, if she knew what he was doing. Being trained and weaponized. Dick wondered if his own mother knew, if she would approve of what Bruce had taught him. Would she like Robin, the Boy Wonder?

He focused on the world around, shutting down the dreadful thoughts that he hadn't thought in a long time. The cabins, aside from one sad one on the end, looked like brightly colored and flamboyant children's projects. One cabin, with the head of a bull over its door, looked like the paint had been thrown on with a bucket. Another was bright pink, perfectly manicured and with lace in the windows. Across the other side was a cabin that seemed to exude silver light, even if dim in the late afternoon sun. It was strange to think that technically, just this morning, he'd been dreaming and on the beach. Or was it the day before? Everything felt hazy.

"This is our cabin. I'm the only one who lives here. Most of the others are full, aside from Jason. He's the son of Zeus, our cousin, and the guy you met in the Big House. That's that cabin there," Percy pointed out, his finger pointed at a large marble columned traditional Greek temple. It looked large and ostentatious, the white gleaming with power. Next to it was a another temple; slightly smaller but grander still. "Hera," Percy explained.

They stood outside of a low long building. All of the windows faced east and Dick could make out bits of shell worked into the walls. It looked like it'd been pulled straight out of the bottom of the ocean. Dick marveled the glowing stone, touching it with his hands. He felt a sense of home and, surprisingly enough, longing. He wondered if that was his own feelings or the cabins.

"I'm the only one who lives here. We're kind of illegal children, being the kids of one of the big three," Percy said, opening the door and letting Dick walk in. There were six bunks all pushed against the wall. Only one was being used, the bed half-heartedly made and with various food wrappers around it. Alfred would have a heart attack.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"We're too powerful," Percy said, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. "And there was a prophecy that said a child of the big three would make a choice to either defend of raze Olympus. So, to the gods, the obvious solution was to stop having kids. Worked for about seventy years."

"Were you the kid?" Dick asked, his voice low. He knew what it was like to have impossible expectations. Not that Bruce really forced much on him, but sometimes the man was unaware of others feelings around him. And Dick was still, in the long run and he'd never admit this out loud, a kid.

Percy nodded, stepping forward and shutting the door behind him. "Yeah, I was the kid. That was the Titan War. We just got back from fighting in the Giant War."

"Giant War?"

"Like not giant as in it was big," Percy said hurriedly, "Like giant as in… Giants."

Dick blinked. He wondered why Diana never mentioned these things— maybe not to him but to the League in general. Maybe it was because they couldn't see the monsters and things they were fighting properly or maybe because it was just to be left to the Greek's. "Oh. Okay." He turned a little in the cabin, taking a seat in the bed opposite Percy's, facing the door.

Percy looked around awkwardly. "Yeah."

The waited in silence.

"So we've got a cousin?" Dick asked, his voice perking up a little at the thought. He had actual living family. A brother. A dad, technically. Even if Dick didn't think of him much as a dad. A cousin.

"Four actually," Percy said, straightening a little to look at Dick. "Jason you met. You haven't met his sister, Thalia. They're full-blooded siblings too, same mom and dad. Zeus."

Dick looked at Percy sharply. "I'm guessing that's rare."

"Pretty much. After those two, there's Nico and Hazel. Half, like us. They're children of Hades."

Dick nodded, "Yeah, alright. Isn't he the death god?"

"Underworld," Percy shrugged. "Our dad is Poseidon, the god of the sea."

"Have you met him?" Dick asked quietly.

Percy hesitated. "Only a handful of times. He's… as far as godly parents go, he's probably the best out there. I know he loves us."

Dick bit his lip and looked away. "I already have a dad. Two dads. I… wasn't being honest back in the big house."

Percy didn't say anything, his green eyes focused on Dick in a strange way. The boy couldn't place it, but the elder demigod looked dangerous. His eyes held that look that John did, the Green Lantern. Battle hardened. Dick knew that he could look the same way if he wanted, but he tried to bury that part of him down. The part that was already so tired. He needed to keep going— for Bruce, for his parents, for the world.

"My name is Richard Grayson," Dick said. "Dick is my nickname though. But… and I was adopted! My parents died when I was eight. My whole family did. No one came for me. I guess. I guess I'm kind of angry. I mean, I didn't even know John Grayson wasn't my dad, but you'd think some god would be able to make sure his son had some place to go. I ended up at a great place, Bruce is… amazing. He's my dad now, but now knowing what I did…" he swallowed, trying to keep the bit of bitterness from his tone out. He'd never just blurted something like that out, but the boy in front of him was his brother and he despite the dangerousness about him, there was something that made Dick trust him.

But Percy nodded. "My mom knew. She just said my dad was lost at sea. I was angry at him for leaving us."

Dick rubbed his hands together, holding them between his knees. "I don't want to replace Bruce, or John Grayson."

"I get it. I have a pretty amazing step-dad. Paul's great and I know he loves my mom, and that's all that matters. I'm sorry about your family," Percy said, his voice quiet.

And Dick knew the older boy meant it. It wasn't like when older people at Bruce's party's told them they were sorry and then went back to drinking their $300 wine. It was genuine, like when he'd told Barbara and she sat and cried with him for people she never knew. It wasn't pity either. It was acceptance. Percy had had no fault in his family's murder, but he felt sorrow for their loss. Dick knew to appreciate authentic people. He had one in Bruce, even if the man Bruce was as Bruce Wayne was almost just as much as a mask as Batman. He had one in Barbara and in Wally.

And in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a lot of people. Growing up in the manor had been lonely at times, Bruce's inability to connect but wanting to making things between them difficult. Dick needed someone who was there, but Bruce wasn't always ready. And they were partners, through and through, and there were things about Bruce that Dick knew but couldn't understand or ever explain. There weren't really words for their oddly formed relationship. Dick always felt a little at odds with it. In some cases, many times and many years before, he'd only wanted a partnership. But then he needed a father. A family. He didn't have that. Not entirely. But Bruce was, his partner yes, but his father. _A_ father.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. I guess in the grand scheme of things, my life hasn't been so terrible," Dick said. "I got adopted by a billionaire."

Percy looked at him strangely.

"Bruce Wayne," Dick said, hoping his fake last name from earlier would be enough to make the connection between the Bruce he'd only just mentioned as his father figure. But the boy only nodded, a faint blush growing over his cheeks.

"So why'd you leave without saying anything?"

"I was putting everyone in danger. My friends. Bruce. They couldn't really see the monsters and they kept coming after me," Dick said, his voice growing strained. "Three in the past two days basically. And with discovering everything… about who my dad wasn't. I need an explanation away from them. For me."

"I get the feeling," Percy said.

"I do have a question," Dick said. "I don't know if you can answer it, but I thought I'd ask. When Bruce did a DNA test with me… it said I was my parents were John and Mary Grayson but… then when he did it again later it said I didn't have DNA. At least on my dad's side."

Percy hesitated. He didn't know much of how demigods existed. He wasn't even sure if the gods knew either. He never had to deal with DNA or anything like that, even if his measly Biology class sophomore year counted. They could always attune their species (was that even the correct term?) to magic. Hybrids. Half-bloods. Demigods. They were a mix of something ancient and new. There weren't instructions or someone who'd sit down and tell you your physiology. It wasn't like the knowledge just sprang into their head like 'oh, hey, here I am and this is how you exist don't die'.

That, and this kid was an enigma of information. He was clearly holding back and even if he'd told Percy his name, there were things he wasn't saying. He was being vague on purpose but still answering questions. This wasn't the work of someone who was intimidated into becoming a double agent— this was deliberate. It wasn't fear. It wasn't any training a Titan or God would be willing to put into their demigods. They were expandable, mortal in their eyes but too powerful to be not taking like a minor threat. He was either not telling Percy something, or Percy's powers of perception were being uncannily provoked.

Not that he was that good at finding the obvious, but he did have a way of seeing things people didn't often want to be found. He'd gotten good at that after Luke.

"I don't really have an answer for you," Percy said. The door creaked behind him and Percy turned a little. "Annabeth, I actually—." But it wasn't Annabeth. Poseidon stood there, trident in hand and wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. Percy rocketed up, standing straight as a board. "Dad!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Dick shoot up too, eyes wide with something that he couldn't place.

"Boys," the god said, his green eyes looking from Percy to Dick. They softened a little. "Percy, do you mind if I have a moment with Richard?"

Percy paused and then nodded. "Yeah, uh sure. I had something I had to ask Annabeth anyway."

The god stepped in and the boy passed by, sharing a small look with his brother, god, his brother before he disappeared down toward the Athena Cabin. The door shut behind them and it was just Dick and Poseidon.

"So," Dick sniffed, trying to keep his voice cool. "You're him."

The god nodded. He was tall and tan. He had a full beard and looked more like a fisherman than a god. "I am your father."

Dick paused, his hands curling into fists and then loosening again. He wasn't even sure what to do. Did he think of this man as his father? John Grayson held that title, and then Bruce. He'd never met him before, never talked to him. He'd left his mother possibly completely unawares to his destiny. He'd just left. Not that Dick wanted everything to change— John Grayson was his father through and through. He'd raised him and cared for him and loved him despite Dick not ever being related to him and that possibly made Dick love the man more, and respect and love carrying his name even further.

But this man was alive and here. And he was standing in front of Dick, his face sorry and tired and looking like he just wanted to talk.

"Right," Dick said. He noted that he looked like the god in front of him. Black hair, dark skin. Maybe he'd be tall too. He was always small for his age.

"I'm sorry I did nothing when your mother died," Poseidon said. "Gods are not permitted to interfere with the affairs of mortals. I did try to guide, indirectly, your path."

"My mom and my dad," Dick said, his voice tight. "I heard that might be a rule."

"You know more than most when they come," the god said, his voice hinting at something. He didn't note Dick's mention of his dad. But he wondered if the god was aware of his nightly outings with Batman. Did he know his son was Robin? That he loved flying more than anything and how ironic it was that Dick was the son of a god who was grounded to the earth and the sea.

"Yeah, I've got friends in high places," he said, alluding to the Watchtower. Dick crossed his arms over his chest, unsure of where to venture from here. He thought he'd be angry, but he was left with more resigned fear. Fear of what? Rejection?

"I admit, I don't know what to tell you," the god said, eyes looking around the cabin.

"What'd you tell Percy?"

"That I was proud," the god said, bouncing his head back and forth. When he spoke, he spoke slowly, choosing his words deliberately. "I am proud of you too. You're a hero. Not in the sense of a Greek demigod, but a hero in your own right without my influence. I couldn't be there for you like I wanted in the beginning. There were other circumstances at the circus that didn't allow for… me to get to know you. I wanted to." There was a desperation underlying his words like he really wanted Dick to believe that he wanted to be there. And some part of the boy did.

"The circus. Did my mom know? Did anyone know?" Dick asked, leaning forward. He wasn't sure if he wanted the answer but he swallowed his pride and his hurt and looked at the god before him. The man shifted a little, the bottom of the Trident hitting the floor of the cabin with a muted thud.

"No. She was not aware of my true identity, and no one knew of us aside from the man Haley and John Grayson, the man your mother was arranged to marry," Poseidon answered honestly. "I told her that I had to leave and return home and that I could not see her again. I don't think she expected to anyway. I left, but I told her that if something were to happen to you or her to drive to New York. I wrote the address down if she ever needed it."

"The cover for the camp," Dick breathed, thinking back to the olive tree address book. "Yeah. I remember. Bruce and I were looking for it when we discovered I wasn't my dad's bio kid."

The god chuckled. "Ah. Yes. Bruce."

Dick winced. "Yeah. Bruce."

The god stroked his beard, looking up with a small but a little grim smile on his face. "I do think eight is a little young, but I'm not one to talk."

"You too!" Dick gasped, not thinking. "It's not super young and considering what had happened—." His voice cut short, and he looked away. Broken bones and red blood over sandy wood chips flashed through his mind. The god was in front of him suddenly, a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I could not protect your mother," he said. "I did love her. And I did not wish her fate on anyone. You were too young to feel the pain of losing a parent. Parents."

Dick thought to the myths, where Poseidon and the other sons and daughters of Kronos cut their father up and scattered him around Tartarus for all eternity. The god seemed to know what he was thinking because he chuckled a little and stood up straight. Dick watched the god turn to leave.

"There is one last thing I must do. You have training and I believe Bruce would appreciate it if you let him know where you were."

Dick lunged forward, grabbing the gods wrist. Poseidon looked down, only raising his eyebrow a little. "Wait! How did you change my DNA?"

The god opened the door with his free hand and turned, winking at Dick. The boy blushed and let go. "Magic. Made you appear completely human to those looking too close. I had to protect you."

Dick quickly followed the god out, frustrated with the lack of explanation but supposing that was all he was going to get. But the god had been there, in a way, protecting him. He guessed it was good enough for the time being, but had a feeling that more research could be done later. They walked toward the pavilion. Many of the campers stopped and stared after them (could they do anything else?), some even bowing as the god of the seas walked by. They walked up the large marble steps and arrived to see Percy and the blonde girl from earlier, along with Chiron. The other two were standing there behind them, with some other campers. They all looked at Poseidon was something like awe. Several bowed, including Chiron and Blondie.

Percy only stood up, taking a few steps to come close to them.

Poseidon smiled. Dick blushed, realizing that he had the man's same grin. "I've always wanted children to embarrass!" He reached and pulled Percy and Dick into a hug, letting out one billowing laugh before the arms around them disappeared. The god was gone and there was the faint smell of salt in the air around them.

Percy blinked, his arms straight, before he turned to Dick. "What'd you talk about?"

Dick turned to look at the ocean, his thoughts a little clearer. Whatever was coming, he'd train and be ready. And he'd be his father's son— all of them. He knew he'd need to call Bruce but it could wait. He wanted to get to know Percy, to get to know his brother. And he wanted to learn what he could. "He just said he was proud of me," Dick answered honestly.

Percy smiled and then straightened, rolling his shoulders back. "Yeah, that's good." Dick could see the faint blush still on cheeks as he turned to the other campers.

"Guys, this is Dick, he's my… brother," he said. The campers all looked between them, some leaning back and whispering to one another. Percy led Dick to the rest of them.

He smiled a little. "Hey," he said.

"What's the point of the oath then?" a large, muscular girl said. She had the same brooding look that Superboy did— angry but trying to keep it all in. Her hair was stringy and oily and her eyes were dark brown. She flexed and glared at Dick, sizing him up for a fight.

Dick grinned at her. "I'm just that amazing, sorry."

"Oh, Prissy, he is your brother. And I don't even need to come up with a nickname, he did it for me!" the girl grinned, slamming her fist into Percy's side. The boy rubbed his arm, glaring a little at her.

"Yeah, yeah Clarisse."

But Dick could tell there was something else there. Not romantic, but a kinship that was probably founded in battle. He understood the feeling well. Percy turned away, leading him away from the crowd to sit down at a separate table. More campers from around the fields and the cabins began to wander up the steps, kids who all looked vaguely alike taking seats together. Blondie sat down with a bunch of other blonde haired and athletic kids. She waved at his gaze, flipping her blonde curls over her shoulders. Dick watched as Chiron clopped up to another separate table that laid adjacent to the rest, a man in a tiger-striped shirt was leaning over it, eyes gazing woefully out at the crowd of teenagers that surrounded him.

He waved his hand, a bottle of coke appearing. Dick blinked and glanced at Percy but the boy was talking silently with Jason, their cousin, who was sitting at what Dick presumed was Zeus's table by himself. Jason turned away as the man in the striped shirt rose, head snapping back toward the front. Dick turned to follow his gaze too.

"Campers and whatevers," the man said, "I've been informed of a rather unconventional half-blood whose arrival could've been a little better. Yada, yada, Rick Mason or something."

Dick blushed bright red as everyone turned to stare at him. Percy touched his shoulder, telling him to turn away, and jerked his head to the plate in front of them. Jason slipped across the seat, folding his arms on the table.

"Just tell it what you want," Percy instructed. "And don't listen to Mr. D, he does that with everyone. Mostly me."

Dick paused, looking down at it. "Anything?"

"No alcohol or anything illegal, they are restrictions," the older boy explained.

"Okay, cool. Um… can I just get pizza? And a coke and Fanta mix?" It popped up on the plate in front of him. He grinned ecstatically, looking up at Percy with wide eyes. The older kid couldn't help the grin that spread on his features.

"Coke and Fanta?" Jason echoed.

"You can get it in Germany," Dick replied, thankful that Alfred didn't magically appear like the pizza and whisk it away with an explanation that it was too unhealthy. Dick and Bruce enjoyed a local pizza place in one of the more nicer and up-and-coming parts of Gotham and when they could wrangle it, or if they snuck off, they'd go and get pizza and hang out. It was one of the few times Dick ever really got junk food, because school food didn't really count, and he was glad they'd sort of made it a tradition when they could get away with it.

Percy nudged his shoulder, picking up his own plate of blue mashed potatoes and salad. It was all blue. They walked over to a fire pit, Percy brushing some of his food in. "A blessing for the gods. They like the smell apparently," he explained, shrugging a little at Dick's expression. The boy wasn't sure who could like the smell of burning food but then again, he had an odd sense of taste too.

Growing up like he did didn't allow for a ton of home cooked meals, despite the fact that his mother had had a large family cookbook that she had never gotten through despite trying at every turn, and so he was used to a lot of eating out or massive pasta dinners cooked in someone else's trailer. Unlike most of the kids he'd met, he had a strange sense of taste— he liked Brussel sprouts and coleslaw but only cooked certain ways. Loved mashed potatoes, but never gravy; he'd always been too afraid to try it because he might not like it and then his mashed potatoes were ruined. Alfred said he was being ridiculous. Bruce said it was funny and that'd he'd been the same way as a boy.

Dick cut his crust off and tossed that in, thanking the god that was his father for being totally whelming. And for the sake of it he tacked on a dude to the end. He didn't expect anything to happen, but he walked back to their table with a spring in his step. He didn't talk as Percy and Jason discussed various on-goings at the camp. But he focused in on their words with rapt attention. He was a listener.

Percy shoved his mashed potatoes into the form of a square. "One last Capture the Flag before the end of the year and most of them go back. It'll be weird. They're not sure how the cabins are divvying up," he said. "And Rachel is worried. She said her paintings are getting a lot darker."

"Have you gone to see her lately?"

Percy shrugged. "Not yet, no. Everything's been happening so fast. We haven't even had the chance to relax from the last war."

The war again. Percy had mentioned it before. Jason nodded, turning to look at Dick with a spark of interest. "So, we're cousins."

"Yeah," he replied, his voice quieter than he wanted.

"Where are you from? I'm from—."

"California," Dick said, shoving in the last of his pizza. He spoke with his mouth full. "'nd or 'rom ew 'ork."

Percy blinked. "Uh, yeah."

Dick swallowed it and smiled. "I'm from Gotham."

Both boys stared at him for a moment. "That's pretty rough."

Dick shrugged. "It's not bad. I live in the nice part and stuff, and my school is a private school so that's nice. But it's really a bunch of rich white kids and a real lack of empathy. I have a couple of friends so it's not so bad. But the villains do get annoying."

Jason blanched. "I don't know if I'd say annoying or downright terrifying."

"I'm sure you've faced worse," Dick said. Jason had that same air about him— not in the way Percy did because their cousin looked about ten times more friendlier than Percy— but in the way that said he'd seen pain. He knew battle. Dick could see it in most of these kid's faces. Two wars almost seemingly back to back, at least is appeared that way. They knew battle. They were heroes in every sense of the word probably. Maybe even more so than Dick was. "And you really do get used to it."

Percy looked away, his face tightening. Dick swallowed and rushed over his next few words. "Not in that way that I don't care! Just that… life is what it is. I can't do anything about it—," a lie if he ever did hear one, "—but I do value that I'm alive."

"It's not that," Percy said quietly. His hands were clenched into fists. He straightened a little and shook his head. "How do you feel about looking for a weapon?"

Dick hesitated, glancing at Jason. The boy slowly nodded, clearly thankful that Percy had changed the subject himself. Dick wondered what that all was. Maybe the boy was thinking of lives lost. It wasn't ever something Dick wanted to get used to. Civilian lives tended to not make a difference to Gotham villains. And as much as Dick was loathe to admit it, because he tried to minimize the impact, he was just a little used to it. Maybe not seeing people die, but knowing that they did.

He would've liked to say that he realized this only just a little bit ago, that it'd come to him just a couple of weeks ago. Maybe on a mission, or on patrol with Batman. But no. He'd been nine. There'd been a bomb.

He'd had nightmares for weeks.

"Yeah, a weapon sounds great!" he enthused.

Percy looked at him a little strangely before he picked himself up from the table. His grin was a little forced, but he wrapped his arm around Dick. "Alright, I think I have one in mind."

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

* * *

Prometheus stood straight as a board. He was stiff and away from home, his powers and strength greatly diminished.

The thing before him sat straight. Rigid. Powerful.

"And how does it go, my servant?"

"It goes well," the Titan answered.

The creature hummed. "I see. What is wrong, servant?"

Prometheus stared straight ahead. "I am losing power being so far from home. I have not been praised in many centuries." He felt sweat run down his brow.

It's laugh was hallow and wrapped Prometheus in a dry blanket. He felt shivers run down his spine and felt the earth crack beneath his feet. "Foolish, silly beings to rely on the worship of others to fuel your power. You are nothing. And to sire children with your abilities to overthrow you. Weak. It is a shame. I do enjoy watching you run around like, what is it, a chicken?" There was dark chuckle.

"Yes," Prometheus said.

The creature nodded. "Be rid of them all. Be rid of the children. Be rid of your gods. Be rid of it all."

"Of course."

"The planet is mine to take. I will swallow it all whole," the creature said. He grinned, large yellow teeth reminding Prometheus of one of the giants. He nodded and bowed before he whisked himself away, the looming sight of red eyes etched in his mind.

 _ **To be continued...**_

* * *

 **Okay! So now we see Dick and Percy interacting and finally meeting! And Poseidon! They get along fine for now, even if Dick is holding back and Percy is a little distrustful. Jason is just along for the ride. We'll see more of the other campers later as we continued to develop the story. And aha! The plot thickens! And the Young Justice characters will return, I promise. Hopefully this isn't my last update before I leave. I have a date tomorrow and then Saturday I'm meeting with a friend hehe. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the reviews too! I'm so happy you all are enjoying this!**


	7. The Oracle

**Mount Justice**

 **Several Days Later**

* * *

Diana convinced Bruce to stay away for several days. Dick needed to do this, he needed time alone to deal and to accept everything without an overbearing father who was too attached. That was, at least, what she said to him. He'd been ready to Zeta-tube his ass over to New York and fight some gods but Clark diligently reminded him that Dick was his own man (boy) and needed the space. Alfred was also on their side. And Dinah.

So he lectured the team on his and Dick's identities and gave them a strict program to train. They weren't permitted to go after the boy either, not after Bruce finally found where he was really, and they seemed to be listening. Wally, bless the boy, must've convinced them to let Dick do his own thing. At least for a while.

But Bruce had problems letting himself be patient in regards to this particular thing. If Dick were here, he'd laugh and say that he was the bane of his existence (he'd already used the pun several times on Bane) and that not even the Batman could remain patient. It was proof! So Bruce stuck himself in another case he was working on that was completely unrelated and let five days pass before he appeared at the Watchtower.

He stalked up behind Diana, who stood with her arms crossed looking out one of the windows. In her hand she had an old photograph. Bruce couldn't pick out who the face was, but it looked worn and like the same type his parents had of themselves when they were younger. Her thumb pressed in to it, distorting the man. It looked like a soldier. She turned as he walked up, sliding the photograph away and hiding it.

"Can I go get him now?"

Diana looked back at him and smiles, one eyebrow quirked. He moved to stand next to her. They're facing away from earth. No planets in sight. It's an expansive of black with white dots. They don't twinkle like real stars, but Bruce can't help but imagine they do.

"You're asking me for permission?"

"You… seem to have more knowledge than I do. I think you understand more than you are letting on," he replied honestly, his voice lowering.

Diana chuckles a little, eyes unfocused. Her arms fell and she stared at the stars with a lost look in her eyes. "I too had a destiny. Heroes like that. Those children don't have choices. Fate dictates ideas and plots and people. Not like how you're thinking, not really, but things are meant to happen." She shook her head and turned to look at her. "Those kids don't make it a lot. They're hunted and killed and abused. And don't think I just sent Dick on his merry way, because if it was meant to happen it's going to happen. I know that's a terrible way of thinking about the world."

"I don't know if I'm one to talk about world views," he admitted. "But that is a little nihilistic."

She smiled, a grimace, and nodded. "Maybe a little. But destinies are something that can't be controlled. Can't be stopped. Dick was destined to become Robin, as much as I don't like it, or didn't anyway. He was destined to discover that his father was not… who we thought he was. Circumstances change, but whether it happened now or in ten years doesn't matter. Just that it happened. Dick was destined to leave, whether I was for or against. Whether you were for or against."

Bruce doesn't say anything for a while. He thought back to when Dick, as Robin, with the other partners telling the League to get on board or get out of the way. And then when Dick, before Robin but right when it was his beginning, told Batman he couldn't stop him from going out and finding Zucco. Dick lived, thrived, on going on his own path. He was a ball of air, doing his own thing and running his own road and dragging anyone else along for the ride.

Bruce didn't understand, but he could respect. He was sure that's how Alfred thought about the whole Batman thing back when he started almost a decade ago. Though, the man probably hadn't meant to let it go so far.

"Dick is… growing up, isn't he?" he said.

"You don't need to sound disappointed," Diana muttered, nudging her shoulder into Batman's. He doesn't say anything at the display of affection, but gave her a dark look. But she just laughed.

"I'm not disappointed. But he's…" Bruce shook his head. "I can't predict that kid. I'm not disappointed in him, I'm just afraid he will leave." He stared out at the ink wash of space in front of him. He can see the distorted reflection of himself and Diana in the window.

"Every child eventually grows up," Diana said. She held out the picture she was holding earlier. "I grew up. Left. Here I am."

"Here you are," Bruce replied, looking at the picture of a World War II soldier. "I'd say you turned out pretty well."

"Mm. You think?"

"I think so."

"I think you're a little biased."

"Now, why would you say that?" Bruce asked, a playful smile on his face. But then he sighed and crossed his arms, leaning back a little and stretching. "I just can't protect him anymore."

"Sometimes children don't need protection. They just need support," Diana said, her voice soft.

Bruce could recognize the wise truths in her statement. He supposed there would always be some soft spot for the small child he'd taken it, a soft spot that he wasn't ready to give up. He'd always look at Dick and see that touchy eight year old who Bruce didn't deserve. They're relationship went beyond what he had expected when he'd first adopted the kid. It was a weird tangle of mentor, partner, father/son. And right now Bruce was a stressed and worried parent who wanted to protect his son.

But Dick was growing up. He didn't need protection, not in the way he used to, and Bruce couldn't hover over like he did before either.

"I guess I should… let go just a little," he admitted.

Diana looked out over the black. "Maybe just a little."

* * *

 **Camp Half-Blood**

 **Now**

* * *

The sword slammed down on the dirt of the training floor where Dick had been moments ago. He skidded back and scowled when the dirt flecks got into his shows, holding his sword up in defense. Percy blew forward, a whirlwind of metal and skill. Dick had never been taught how to use a sword, just how to defend himself from one. Well, that didn't include brief sword lessons from Wonder Woman. But apparently knowing how to defend oneself from a sword and actually using one were two different things. That, and none of the weapons Dick had taken a liken too actually felt balanced or right in his hand.

So he was using a weapon that didn't feel right without any real idea on how to use fighting the (apparently) best swordsman in the past 300 years. Who was also his brother. And who also went harder on Dick than the other new campers. Or even the old ones. It wasn't as difficult as Bruce's training, but he was still being tested.

He dodged to the side and rolled on his back before leaping up and throwing his sword against Percy's own. The boy turned, flipped back around, and then slammed the side of the weapon into Dick's side. He grunted and then fell down, rolled, and then popped back up and tried to get at the older boys legs. He shifted to the side after a moments hesitation. Too long. Percy parried and twisted Dick's sword out his hands, flinging it across the training floor so it stuck straight up in the dirt.

The sword was at Dick's neck in a moment. He held his hands up and grinned up at Dick's older brother. Percy was smiling too and dropped Riptide from the younger boys neck. "That was good! You've already improved. You lasted long too, and I really like the twisting move you did. Where'd you learn that?"

Dick shrugged. "Wonder Woman." Then he froze. "You know, like watching her on TV?"

Percy looked at him oddly but took a swig from his water bottle instead. He poured a little bit of it on his head, his hair dripping a little from the water into his face. "Your stance is too wide, and you need to not leave so many openings."

Dick looked down at himself and then trotted to where Percy was already walking off, the next group of people moving onto the training floor for a turn. Those were basic things, and he knew that if they were fighting hand to hand or even with his escrima sticks, he'd have the upper hand. But it was good he was learning a new weapon even if he was making beginner mistakes. It was better he made them now. "Okay! I can do that."

"You'll improve when you have a better sword. You're quick, but your moves aren't," Percy noted, plucking Dick's sword from the ground and looking it up and down. "Once we get you a sword or weapon that you can actually use correctly you'll do better."

Dick took it from his brothers hand and looked it up and down. It was shorter than Percy's, and the same leaf-shape as his. The hilt was wrapped in leather. But it wasn't right or balanced in his hand, a little too short and too heavy. It was squat and uncomfortable and Dick felt like he was hefting Thor's hammer instead of a Greek _Xiphos_. That and it was meant to be used with one hand, which Dick would've thought would've been perfect, but it still felt awkward. He wasn't even sure what to do with his other hand.

He also really wanted to find a sword, even if he wasn't particularly good at it. Maybe he could get them to make bronze escrima sticks in the meantime. That would actually be sick. Dick followed Percy back into the training room and watched Piper take down a camper with her dagger. Maybe Dick could use a dagger and be like Piper and Annabeth, who was probably one of the fiercest fighters Dick knew. She reminded him of Artemis a little. Percy had noted that Annabeth looked more serious than she was, but usually if she looked like she was figuring out a way to kill you, she really was.

It'd taken Dick a little bit to get used to the idea that most of these people around him had probably killed another human. Well, Demigod. But it wasn't different than any soldiers in war. These people had been in war. They'd had to formulate plans and battles and go in knowing that they might not make it out. Dick knew the feeling. Being Robin was like that too, knowing there might be a day that he would not make it, but he'd never had the feeling of having to face another person and kill them. He wasn't sure how it made him feel. He hoped that maybe he wouldn't have to face it.

He'd whispered that thought to Piper a day ago when he watched Percy go up against Jason, the two's swords making lightning crackle between them as they fought. Piper had looked at him sadly. He was surprised that he'd admit it at all, especially to someone he'd only met five days ago. But something about Piper made him trust her, even if her apparent Charmspeak ability was incredibly unnerving. She just told him she understood the feeling, but it was best to just not think about it.

"Our turn!" Percy chorused, nudging Dick in the shoulder. The younger boy was pulled from his thoughts and wrenched his sword from his side and dragged it across the dirt to the center circle.

"Ready?" a girl from the Hestia cabin called.

Dick grinned and swung his sword in his hands, crouching down lower.

"Spar!"

Percy went for it, slicing his sword through the air. Dick leapt to the side, cursing his stupid sword, and twisted around to block a blow. The swords clashed, sparks flew, and Dick was pushed back. He gripped the leather tighter and swung toward Percy, just barely nicking his shoulder before the older and far more experience swordsman twisted out of the way and sliced at Dick's feet.

Not quite thinking and going purely off of instinct, he flipped back once, using his pretty much useless other hand to make his flip a handspring and then sailed back further. He landed and slashed the sword through the air. Percy was clearly surprised, but he tried not to let it show on his face. They were at a standoff. Dick flipped the sword in his hand one more time and smiled.

Percy winked and then thrust his hand to the side. Dick would've had a face-full of a water bottle if he didn't twist out of the way, slashing the sword down to Percy's chest. The older boy leapt back once, Dick slashed again, then twice, until he finally parried and they were standing there gritting their swords together. His instinct was the pull back and use a different tactic. He wasn't used to just fighting for the sake of fighting. Sure, the team practiced, but never with weapons like this— it wasn't ever lethal. And he and Batman used the shadows, gas, smoke, and even sound. He wasn't used to battle on the grander scale like this.

He's had his fair share of face offs, but they were so few and far between.

He also really wished he had his utility belt. It was sitting in his backpack under his bed, unused for the time being.

Percy was the one to pull back. And then he thrusted the base of the sword, his forearm smacking into Dick's head. He let it take him down and curled up and rolled to the side before landing on his feet. He wasn't going to beat the man by pure force. Percy was bigger and stronger and had more experience. But Dick was an acrobat, with a lean build perfect for working in and around someone bigger than him. He grinned and took a few steps back. He rolled back on the balls of his feet, once, twice, and then he was running. Percy only paused momentarily to move quickly and dodge, but Dick flung his sword at his feet and then leapt through the air.

He used Percy's shoulder as large platforms to take him down. Batman was used to Robin using him as springboard, especially his shoulders for various attacks for people who had managed to sneak up on them, but if Percy was bigger than Dick, Batman certainly was. And Percy wasn't expecting that 130 LBS added to his shoulders. His knees buckled, but Dick was already planting his feet on the ground. He was half ready to straighten and throw his arms up in the air, grinning at a nonexistent circus crowd, before he swung his body around with a kick.

Dick didn't actually aim for his head, and his foot whistled straight past Percy's hair, but the intent was clear. Until Percy rose with both swords in his hands pointed at Dick's chest, looking down at Dick's one.

"You're right," he intoned with a small smirk, "This is unbalanced."

Dick huffed and crossed his arms. "Oh, come on! I totally would've won if I didn't actually want to knock you out!"

He tossed the unbalanced sword to Dick and shrugged. "I'll give you that one, but don't hold back next time."

Dick hesitated. The crowd around them withered and they walked past everyone back to the water station. They both filled up cups and started to drink. Percy gestured toward the other end of the training ground and soon the two were walking away from everyone.

"I would've knocked you out with that kick though," Dick said, pausing over his words to look up at Percy. The older boy was watching intently as one of the Ares' girls and a boy from the Apollo cabin fought. Bow and Arrow against spear was certainly an interesting combination.

Percy shrugged again and turned to look down at him, his expression hard. "Yeah, but that's okay. Better to know what you can do in training before you found out what doesn't work in battle." He paused. "But I always take risks. A lot of what I've done has been absolutely winging it."

Dick was reminded a little bit of Wally. The boy didn't quite formulate calculated plans like Robin or Aqualad did. It didn't mean he couldn't do it, because he was good at it, but Wally worked best on impulse. He was a 'heat of the moment' type of guy. If something went wrong, he didn't need to really plan for it, he could just deal with it as it came. Dick supposed that was a benefit of superspeed and literally thinking faster than others around you. But he couldn't risk it, or fathom it really.

"You just wing everything?"

"Pretty much," Percy said, "Annabeth comes up with the plans, but things rarely ever actually work out. I'm not quick on a lot of things, so I just sort of take things as they are."

Dick looked away and back to the training floor. Apollo was flooring Ares. Dick slipped out of his armor and took off his arm guards and helmet. It was so heavy— he much preferred his Robin costume to heavy weight armor like this. He wondered about his own fighting style. It was dramatic, with lots of flips and twists and moves. He didn't shy away from performing a little and Bruce always said he had a natural grace about his movements. He could always see the battlefield, but he wasn't sure how to explain it. They though it might've been his ADHD, and now that Dick had met almost all the other demigods, he was sure it was.

He wondered a little about Percy. The boy didn't talk a lot, actually. He was quiet and had this sort of brooding quality about him. He often stood around the others with his arms crossed and a dark, but not sinister, look in his eyes. He rarely spoke and generally a conversation with Percy and Annabeth was a conversation with Annabeth, and maybe Percy. Dick didn't think it was because he didn't have a lot to say, because his lips would twitch with a half-smile or he'd laugh a little under his breath like he'd thought of something funny in response to something stupid. Dick wondered that maybe Percy just chose not to talk a lot.

They were opposites in that effect. Dick loved talking, and the only reason he really wasn't ever talking was because he had an image to uphold as Robin. It was something he had grown in to, but at heart he'd always be a talker. He could probably go on for days. It was why when his class had read Virginia Woolf, he'd been the only to enjoy the stream of consciousness because that was literally his thought pattern. And speech pattern, depending on who he was with.

"You? Slow?" he asked, turning back to Percy. "You're like… really quick."

Percy actually blushed a little at the compliment, and did the same thing Dick did when he was nervous; he rubbed the back of his neck. "I meant like, you know, in the head. Annabeth says I have problems seeing what's right in front of me."

"Oh, like the obvious," Dick said, hefting himself up to sit on the fence. He was eyelevel with Percy, but they were both watching the next fight between a Hecate girl and a daughter of Athena. "Okay. I understand that."

"Yeah," Percy kind of chuckled. He leaned back onto the fence and gripped it hard, as it were the only thing keeping him there. "I'm not too good at school, you know, because of that."

Dick looked surprised, glancing over before he turned back to the fight. He tugged his shirt down with his hand and kept himself steady. "What? Seriously?"

"Before I went to Goode, I got kicked out of every school I went to," Percy admitted, wincing and looking away. "Most of it wasn't my fault. Well, okay, some were, but not because I was deliberately misbehaving."

"Jeez," Dick whistled, leaning back to stretch a little. "I was homeschooled before I went to Gotham Academy. And I skipped a grade."

Percy turned to look at him sharply, looking more than a little surprised. He turned back away and opened his mouth to say something before he shook his head and laughed. "So you go to a prep school. Wow. And what'd you skip?"

"Well," Dick juggled the thought, "I skipped for math, but I'm ahead in all the other subjects too. I'm kind of a genius in it, but if I went any further I'd be taking college classes and you have to at least be sixteen to do that. So I'm just in advanced calculus." He scrunched up his face, but it was more for the other boy than him. He loved his math class, and he enjoyed it because it was challenging. The numbers just worked themselves out in his head.

Percy was looking at him with a strange sense of confusion and disbelief. Then he looked away, and then back at Dick. He was clearly struggling for words and then, "Advanced Calculus? You're serious."

"Yeah. You know. Math. y=mx+b. Ugh, Pi? I don't know."

Percy snorted. "I suddenly doubt you."

"I know what I'm talking about!"

Percy only shook his head and then rubbed Dick's hair. They both stopped short and froze, not quite looking in each other's direction. They didn't talk for a few moments before Percy half-mumbled something about needing to speak to Annabeth. He stalked off and was out of sight in a few moments, Dick hanging awkwardly back at the fence. He sighed and slipped off, fixing his hair, and hurried back to the cabin to shower.

He ran into a few campers he was getting to know, but he mostly kept to himself. He was there to survive, not make friends. But he was always talking and always down to talk and help and, well, he just couldn't help being personable. He winced when one of the campers from earlier clapped him on the back and congratulated him on that 'really awesome flip and kick, man!'. Even if he was an acrobat, he needed to be able to hold back to keep his secret ID intact. His kick was precise and, while not lethal, not made by someone who'd just started fighting a week ago.

Flips and twists and general agility he could attribute to the circus, but actual fighting? No.

That and Bruce would kill him. He slunk in the Poseidon cabin and looked around. Percy was perpetually messy, even between the two of them. And Dick didn't realize how much Alfred did until he looked at his bed that morning and saw the mess. Not that he had much. He'd been given a Camp shirt, and his other clothes were either getting smelly or borrowed from Percy. Though, it was a little embarrassing because he swimming in Percy's shirts but it was better than something dirty.

He also hated being dirty.

He moved to tidy everything up and in the end dumped his backpack back on his bed. He unzipped it and carefully pulled the chest of his uniform up to look at the R. When his mother had made the uniform, it had stood for Richard. Now it stood for Robin. He wondered if she was somewhere laughing about the irony of his birthright. He tucked it away and stuffed a sweatshirt over top of it, glancing only briefly at his holo-gloves before he zipped the backpack back up and stuffed it under his bed.

He threw himself on the bed. And then sat.

He got up and paced around the room. Then he sat again. Then he stood in the window and looked out. Then he started pacing again.

"Argh!" he bit out, flopping down on the bed for the last time. He'd tried to call Bruce a day or two ago, but his phone was down for the count. And so were his holo-gloves. He was left with no connection, and going out without proper sword training wasn't an option. He was sure there was probably some way to get ahold of the outside world, but right now he just didn't have it. Maybe he could get Chiron to give him a message to Diana, except that would compromise his identity.

He feared it wouldn't matter and they'd find out anyway.

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **Two Days Later**

* * *

Wally leapt over the couch and sped over to the kitchen. A platter of day old cookies sat on the counter, and the air conditioning hummed around them. It was cool in the cave, but they had opened up the hanger door to let in a small breeze. He, along with Zatanna, Connor, and M'gann were lounging around on the couch waiting to do something. The girls were whispering in hushed tones about celebrities, and Wally had been trying for the past hour to get something, anything, out of Connor. But the heat had them all down, and even those the doors were closed now there was still a lingering sense of haze hovering around them.

He opened the fridge and began to move things around, shifting a week old pie from Giant to the side to find some potato salad and a half a jug of milk. He sighed and shut the fridge. He could wait until dinner, maybe.

He wished Dick was there. They hadn't heard from him in a week. Seven whole days of nothing. Batman had given them a rigorous training schedule and had lectured them about the importance of his own secret ID. Even though they had all taken it to heart, there was still something comical about Batman standing in the cave in his pajamas next to Wonder Woman and Superman. Wally wished Robin was there to get the security feed, because no amount of bribing would make Black Canary do it apparently. Both Wally and Artemis had tried.

In fact, aside from that, the archer had been oddly quite about the whole thing. She'd rarely spoken to Wally all week, chalking it up to a new part-time job by her house and worry for their friend. Zatanna had pulled Wally aside one day, holding her arms tightly to her body. Her hair had been slung up in a ponytail, and she wore a worn Gotham Gators shirt that he knew had been a gift from Dick.

"Listen," she's whispered, "um. You knew Rob— Dick's ID before all this right? I mean, you knew him as a civilian?"

Wally had shifted a little uncomfortably. The two had had a strange relationship since the kiss on New Year's. He knew his younger friend liked her a lot, but they'd never quite done anything about it. Dick was apprehensive with the whole thing, especially because Wally knew the boy didn't think he was ready for dating. Or kissing or… anything. But Zatanna and he hung out often enough, if as just good friends.

"Yeah," he had told her, "I did. Wasn't supposed to know but… I did."

Zatanna had nodded and bit her lip, looking away from him toward the rest of the team. Raquel and M'gann were speaking softly about the movie they were watching. Zatanna twisted the bottom of her shirt nervously. "So… what can you tell me?"

Wally felt red creep over his cheeks. "Uh, what?"

The girl pushed on. "You know, about Rob— Dick. I didn't even know his name and… you knew about his parents and I guess I just want to know… about him. We were close, you know, as much as we could be with the whole secret ID thing." She didn't bother trying to hide her frustration. Wally knew the feeling. "Do you know any way to contact him?"

He withered a little. Because, no, he didn't. Actually, nothing worked. No phones, emails, calls, messages, texts, social media, or pigeon. Not that Wally had tried Pigeon but he was pretty damn close to just going for it anyway. He'd managed to convince them all the wait because he knew Dick needed to know the truth of who he was and he needed to do that for himself, with no one there.

"I don't, and even if I did Zatanna… Dick needs space," Wally had said quietly.

Zatanna dropped her shirt and rocked back on her feet, face growing red. "No he doesn't! I need him to open up to me. He needs to talk to people."

"Maybe," Wally admitted, "Maybe he does. But right now isn't the time for that."

The girls shoulders dropped and she nodded, mumbling a quiet thank you. She didn't bother to stay around and, either forgetting her earlier questions or simply not caring enough, skulked back over to M'gann and Raquel.

Wally flipped over his phone. Only a message from Artemis and his mom, asking about dinner. He flipped the cover down and slid it back into his shorts, waddling back without food to the couch in some pitiful walk of food shame. He flopped down on the couch and rubbed his face.

He hated the waiting game.

* * *

 **Camp Half Blood**

 **A Week Later**

* * *

Percy slunk into the Athena cabin awkwardly. The neatly organized cabin was, of course, in pinnacle condition. The bunks were still pushed to the side, and the crafting and drafting tables took up most of the space. Annabeth was hunched over a drawing of a temple. She had models of Corinthian and Ionic columns lined up across her desk and several studies of drawings on the wall behind it. He walked over and kissed her head. She jumped, startled, but laughed when she saw it was him.

"Hey, seaweed brain," she said, turning completely away from her drawing to look at him. He leaned against one of the bunks, crossing his arms, and smiled.

"Hey, wise girl. Got time to talk?"

She rolled her eyes and moved to carefully fold her drawing. "It's a bust anyway. But I do, actually. Finally." She shifted a little in her chair and patted it with her hand. Percy slid in. They sat with half their butts on the chair, Percy slinging his arm around to hold her close to him.

"Good. I'm… remember how we thought Dick might've…" he paused, unsure of how to say the words. She raised her eyebrow at him.

"If Dick might be working with Prometheus?"

Percy nodded, face grim. "He's definitely been trained."

She pulled away to look at him, furrowing her brow. "You sure?"

Percy hesitated. He was wary of the kid enough already as it were. He was already lying to everyone about who he was and his name. Percy only knew what the kid had told him. He didn't know much about celebrities and billionaires and the like, let alone who got adopted by who when so-and-so died. But he was lying to everyone else about being Dick Thomas or whatever he'd said his name was.

And his training. Clearly he'd never fought with a sword before, so a Greek Titan didn't quite add up but who knows? He'd mentioned the training to Annabeth last week, but they'd somewhat brushed it off to luck and general Demigod skill. That, and, well, children of the Big Three often tended to just be skilled.

"I'm positive," he replied. "I told you about that kick he supposedly did last week."

"Yeah," Annabeth confirmed, "So did Piper. Which reminds me," she glanced down at her Owl watch (a gift from Sally), "We're getting coffee at the store later."

Percy squeezed her shoulder. "I'll be quick then. He knocked that kid, Andrew from the Pheme cabin. He's a pretty good fighter."

Annabeth nodded, shifting a little and frowning. "No, yeah, he is. What'd Dick do?"

"Flipped over top of him, slammed the butt of his sword into the backs of his knees and then knocked him out with a roundhouse kick," Percy said. "Apologized the entire way back to the infirmary. Kid was fine but… that's not the actions of someone who started two weeks ago. He's definitely been trained."

Annabeth bit her lip and sat back in the chair. Percy lifted his arm a little and moved to the right. He was halfway hanging off the chair, one hand around his girlfriend and the other resting on the bunk ladder to keep himself upright.

"You think he's hiding something?"

"I'm just… concerned that's all. He clearly doesn't know how to use a sword," Percy admitted, "And his other powers either. We went in the water this morning so I could show him around and he still held his breath for five minutes before I finally looked back and told him to breath."

Annabeth nodded, grey eyes dark as she thought. "You afraid of why he might really be here for?"

Percy could only shrug. Clearly, something was coming. Rachel had been having prophetic dreams all week, but Chiron was holding off from having anyone go talk to her for whatever reason. He still wouldn't explain. Maybe it was Dick. Who knew? Not Percy, because Chiron wasn't telling them anything. Jason had voiced his frustration earlier, and had even iris-messaged Frank for anything from Ella the Harpy (per Percy's request). No such luck, unfortunately.

"I don't know. Part of me is excited because he's my brother but part of me feels like I'm looking at a stranger. And he just looks so sad, Annabeth," he turned to look at her completely, eyes furrowed with worry. "He just looks sad."

* * *

 **Camp Half Blood**

 **Now**

* * *

Dick probably liked Piper the best out of all of Percy's friends. Jason was cool and he reminded Dick a little of Commissioner Gordon. Annabeth he'd barely gotten a chance to really talk to, but he liked her well enough too. Plus, she and Percy were dating, so that was cool. Percy told him that they had three more cousins he had yet to meet. Thalia, Jason's older (but apparently not really) sister, Nico, and Hazel. And Dick was more than excited to meet them. But Piper was the coolest. She had the most time to spend with him outside of training, aside from Percy.

She helped him mess around with archery, which he was surprisingly decent at despite the apparent ability of children of Poseidon to suck at archery. She'd also taken him to the lake and to the shop and bought him a shirt. She'd mentioned that when she first came to camp, Annabeth had been the one to really be her friend and show her around. She wanted to do the same for Dick.

She and Jason were walking up to him as he walked from the training ground. Percy was busy at the canoe lake, helping push the boats off and get campers settled. He took his sword, still woefully unbalanced, and waved to them from the ground. Piper grinned back, hollering at him to look out. He ducked quickly and smacked the side of his sword into some girls ribs. She buckled, down for the count. He'd had his fair share of failures on the training ground, but he'd been using his acrobatic training (not his Robin… kinda) just a little. It didn't hurt, right?

"Good job!" Jason insisted, walking over to grab Dick's sword.

"Thanks!" he exclaimed. "I almost didn't make it!"

The boy flipped the sword in his hands and looked it up and down. "Man, this is a shi—."

Piper nudged him. "Don't curse in front of him. He's a child!"

"I'm from Gotham, I've heard worse."

"A child!" Piper snapped, but a smile graced her face. "But come on, I wanted to take you to see Rachel!"

Dick blinked and jumped, hurrying to take off his armor. "She's the Oracle right? Percy's told me about her! That's so cool that you have someone who can predict the future! I mean, it's not as cool as someone who can read minds but that's still pretty cool. Does she like astral travel to the future to see it or does she just see images or something? Whoa, can she just see what she wants? That'd be so asterous."

Jason grabbed the boys armor while Piper raised her eyebrow at him.

"Asterous?"

Dick rolled his eyes and frowned. "Oh, don't tell me you don't know what asterous means! Listen! Okay, so, the prefix to disaster is dis- right? And disaster means like mayhem, chaos or discord. But like, if dis- is a regular ole' prefix than that means aster must be the opposite of disaster. So like, something that is really awesome, or going well."

Piper blinked at the boy, surprised by his sound logic and a little bit perturbed that he'd clearly spent enough time thinking about it to come up with a solid argument. "That's… something. What else you got?" They moved to walk out of the training grounds and up the hills toward Rachel's cave. Dick trotted in contempt next to them, grinning wildly.

"Overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just whelmed, you know? And distraught! What about just being traught?"

Jason looked a little confused. "I've never really thought about it. English is a weird language."

"Oh don't get me started," Dick huffed, "Learning it was so difficult."

Piper jerked back a little, surprised. They were moving past the trees, the limbs and leaves casting spindly shadows on the ground. There were stone stairs up the dirt path toward the cave. Piper could already see it in the distance.

"English isn't your first language?" She should've known. He said his words a little accented, like her grandfather had but not in the same way. He pulled his vowels differently.

Dick shrugged. "Eh. Kinda? I learned at the same time as my first one."

Piper noted that he didn't mention what his first language was and she shared a look with Jason. The boy winced and turned to look pointedly over their valley. He knew of Percy and Annabeth's worries about the boy and even though Piper was somewhat ignoring the fear, they were still cautious. They walked up to the cave, the beads hanging from it dangling in the hot summer wind.

Piper pushed it aside. "Rachel?" They walked down a small set of stone stairs into the cave.

A red head popped out from behind on the of the easel's. Rachel had black painted smeared across her forehead and was wearing and SPCA volunteer shirt. She wiped her brush across the myriad of paint streaks along the bottom of the shirt and grinned, sticking the brush away. "Hey, friends!"

Piper smiled and pushed Dick along. "Hey, Rachel! You haven't met Dick yet right?"

The redhead flipped her hair back behind her, bright green from her fingers getting caught in the curly red strands. Dick watched it in fascination. Her hair was almost the same as Barbara's, but a little brighter and far more curlier. He'd barely thought about his friend all week, except in passing, but wished she were here with him to wreak havoc among the campers. Like the Stoll's. The girl, Rachel the Oracle, had freckles all over her long face. She was pale, too, and the paint streaks along her body stood out like neon signs. She wasn't quite what he had expected of the Oracle of Delphi, but a painting, volunteering, kinda-hippie was a pretty good way to go in terms of ancient spirits.

"You look just like Percy when he was younger, oh my god!" the girl exclaimed, wiping her hands on her hands before she squeezed his face a little. The cave around them was homier than the Batcave, with lava lamps and a bean bag chair and the bed and easel's. It was nice.

"Thanks?"

"Oh, no problem! It's so great to meet you and I'm sorry I haven't done that yet, but I have just been so busy with, you know, Oracle stuff. Apollo was been a little demanding lately."

The cave grew darker as, presumably, the sun dimmed. Rachel winced. "Kidding! Sorry!"

Dick looked up toward the entrance of the cave, and the light returned. "Whoa," he muttered.

Rachel rolled her eyes a little and smiled at the three of them. "So, did you come here just to see me?"

Piper grinned back. "Your beautiful face. We just can't keep away."

"Coming from you, that means a lot," Rachel replied, looking back to Dick. "You are so adorable."

Dick puffed his chest out a little but still blushed. "I am not!"

"Are too—." Rachel froze, her eyes going wide, and she doubled over. Piper and Jason both lunged forward to grasp her shoulders, holding her upright. The girls green eyes were glowing strangely, and there was a certain air about her that dampened the bright cave around them. The air seemed to be pulled from her chest as she gasped.

"War," the girl wheezed, her voice layered over with a thousand others, "There is… war. Omega. The end."

She fainted, the two older campers slowly lowering her to the ground. Piper brushed the girls hair out of the way, turning to Dick with worried eyes.

"Go get Chiron and Will!"

Dick didn't hesitate. He was out of the cave and sprinting down the hill before he could even fathom what Rachel had said.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	8. The Cave

**Camp Half-Blood**

 **The Big House; Now**

* * *

Annabeth paced outside the door of the infirmary, her eyes flickering back to the doors before she steadied herself and continued pacing. Dick swung his legs off the couch, looking between Annabeth and Will. Will, who was a son of Apollo and who Dick had only met briefly, apparently dated his cousin, Nico. Will looked like Green Arrow a little, handsome and young with bright blonde hair that Dick swore almost glowed. He and Chiron had arrived at Rachel's cave as the girl fainted, taking her down to the infirmary to be cared for.

They were still waiting Chiron to come out.

Percy was also there, sitting with his head in his hands.

Dick turned to his brother. "Does this normally happen? Because I'm guessing no."

Percy glanced at him only for a second, green eyes lingering on Annabeth. The girl was clearly frantic, and no amount of reassurances from Will, Percy, or Piper helped. Jason was the only one who remained quiet, his worry too prevalent. "No, normally the spirit just possesses her."

"Oh," Dick remarked, "Naturally."

He thought back to close calls with the team. They'd gotten shot at, hunted, electrocuted, beaten, thrown, and almost drowned. Dick had even gotten shot before, just once, in the shoulder. It was still sore if he strained it too hard sometimes, but aside from that that was it. Not including his injuries from Gotham, Dick rarely found himself in the infirmary. Neither did the team really. They were as good at dodging things as they were at making things explode on covert missions.

Mystical attacks were strange, depending on who one was fighting, attacks were meant to restrain or keep the attacker in one place. And even then, offensive magic was more just energy (read: electricity). It threw you back, knocked you out. But this magic was so different than Zatanna's or even Klarion's. Dick had observed the Hecate cabin training one evening after he and Percy had gone out swimming, noting that they didn't say words backwards. They spoke in Ancient Greek, sure, (some of it he could understand!), and flung out curses and jinxes and the like. Annabeth had snuck up on him then and mentioned that they would need to start Ancient Greek soon.

"Can only they do magic?" he asked, leaning forward with widened eyes to take in the attack Lou Ellen had just thrown out against her sister.

Annabeth had looked at him curiously. "No. All demigods have an aptitude for it. It just depends on how strong. Your cousin Hazel is one of the best magicians out there and she's not a daughter of Hecate."

"Right," Dick had mentioned, "Pluto. That's cool."

Apparently magic was more about manipulating the mist, the thing that kept most mortals from seeing the truth. The mist was strange enough that not even most gods understood how it worked. It was transcended across religions, apparently, as Percy had noted one night when he was telling Dick about his friend Carter, an Egyptian magician who used their 'version' of the mist, call the Duat.

Dick had tried on multiple occasions on his own, and the only thing he seemed to be able to do was make a little fish out of smoke from a candle. But it was a cool little parlor trick and he was excited to show Zatanna.

The door opened then, Chiron clopping out. Percy stood and Annabeth stood stock still as the Centaur looked at all of them. He looked a little tired, but Dick figured living thousands of years did that to you.

"And?" Annabeth said impatiently, tapping her foot. Dick winced, wondering how Chiron would take it. He seemed unaffected though, probably used to the young woman ready to fight anyone.

"She's alright. The visions put a little stress on her body, but she is awake."

Annabeth and Piper were both in the room without a second thought. Jason put a hand on Dick before he could stand up off the couch, shaking his head at the boys question glance. Percy had risen as well, eyes lingering on the door.

"What should we do?"

"Wait here until they are done. Mister Thomas?" Chiron asked, looking in Dick's direction. It took a moment before the name registered. He didn't turn right away, eyes still on the door with worry for a girl he'd just met, but he nodded.

"Yeah?"

"We do need to speak later about something, after dinner."

Dick's mind flew in a billion different directions. "Oh, okay!" he found himself saying, "Mind if I go shower? We had just walked from training and…" he looked himself up and down. "I'm a little dirty. Not very whelming."

The Centaur had a small smile on his face at the word choices but waved his hand to the door before he turned back to Percy. Percy had a strange look on his face as he watched Dick trot off out of the Big House before he turned to Chiron. Jason slipped up next to him, eyes lingering on the boys retreating form. There was a tenseness about him, as if he were shouldering a great secret. Jason and Percy wondered how deep this war was going. Spying was low, but the Titans could go lower.

"You're worried for him," Chiron said, walking toward the living area.

Percy nodded in confirmation. "I'm afraid he's working for… someone. Maybe even Prometheus. His training that he's had is… out there, and with what he's told me of his past he shouldn't still have that level of physical ability unless there's someone training him."

"His past?" Jason echoed. "What of it?"

"He lied," Percy said, his voice strained and clearly hurt. Jason wondered how excited he'd been to discover he'd had a brother only to believe he was being used as a pawn. Hazel had mentioned that will Percy was quite likeable and had plenty of friends, he really was alone in the Godly world. He didn't have a sibling or a family of people around him who really knew him and even if Thalia had left after Jason had been given away, she was still his sister and he'd love her until the day he died. And maybe Percy didn't really realize this, because, well, his flaw was loyalty.

He was loyal to people he hadn't even met. To protect people he didn't know. He had a thin relationship with the entire world. They'd even discussed it, to a point, the two of them.

"He lied?" Chiron asked, voice concerned.

"About his name… where he's from. I don't know why he did it. John isn't his real name. Neither is the Wayne," Percy replied, looking away as if he were embarrassed at his brother for lying. Jeez, Jason didn't realize how attached Percy had become. The young man was probably just realizing it now. His suspicions had kept him from really growing entirely fond of the boy but Jason knew it wouldn't matter.

"Fascinating. Some children… have had terrible lives before they come here. I wouldn't fret too much over it. You can trust the boy, believe me," Chiron replied, rubbing his beard a little with his hands.

Percy glanced over at Jason, a little surprised. Chiron wasn't one to trust people willy-nilly. He often was the most skeptical after years of watching heroes die. Often, he kept people back in away. Jason knew it wasn't personal, but he still often felt unnerved when Chiron would give him, or anyone, a sad look as if knowing he'd have to watch them die.

Percy didn't say anything in response, only turned away when Annabeth opened the door and beckoned for him to come in.

Dick could wait. Rachel needed them.

* * *

Dick snatched his backpack from under his bed and ruffled through the rest of his clothes, dumping them onto the bed. His shower had been short and quick and his hair, getting too long for his liking, dripped water off and landed with little muted splashes on the floor of the cabin. He knew that Percy was apprehensive about him, a fact that hurt a little. But Dick had to keep his and Bruce's identities as Batman and Robin safe, no matter the circumstances. He'd long forgotten that actual lecture Bruce had given him when he started out as Robin about his identities, but the idea was still there.

Don't reveal your identity under any circumstance.

Dick asked if life and death counted. Bruce had repeated, 'under any circumstance'. That was five years ago now, leaning on six, and Dick had only broken the rule once with Wally. And now, well, the entire team knew and it was actually Bruce's fault for that because he'd taken him to the Mountain instead of Leslie's.

So Dick had that on Bruce now. Made up for the Batmobile incident of '07. They were on even ground. Even so, Dick didn't want to compromise their identities. Just because Batman had revealed their identities to the team didn't mean Dick could just go out and do whatever he wanted, flinging out he was Robin.

He had to hide his uniform better. It wouldn't do to have the backpack under his bed anymore, not when anyone could really stroll in to the cabin and go through their stuff. Dick trusted Percy and some of his friends. They weren't malicious or mean. They wanted to get to know him— he had plenty of experiences of kids pretending to be nice to him as a joke. And as much as that hurt to admit, it changed how he perceived kids and teens who tried to get to know him. He didn't trust most of the camp, probably, and certainly not with his uniform.

"Not whelming," he muttered, throwing some socks under the bunk and throwing his backup under his shoulder.

There had been a cave under the water by the shore that Dick had noted when he and Percy were swimming one afternoon, helping some fish out of a net. The cave went up far enough that it went above the water level and provided some small shore of rocky sand. It would be perfect for hiding something, mainly because no human could hold their breath long enough to go from the cave entrance on the bottom of the ocean to the top and it was far enough down that water pressure would begin to annoy people.

Percy would be the only one to go up, but he hadn't been with Dick when the boy had discovered it, so it would be safe for the time being.

He trotted out of the cabin and slipped past to the shoreline. One or two Dryad's watched him go, giggling as they bounded away from his path. He grinned in their direction. He reached the sand dunes, plowing through the sand, and walked down to the beach. The sun was beginning to set, casting everything with the barest hint of yellow light, and the ocean looked beautiful. It looked like a mirror, reflecting a purple sky. He stepped in, and the rush of freshness broke through him from the ocean.

He waded through the water and then dove under. Everything around him seemed to glow in the darkness. The sun's rays filtered through purple water and fish swam around his arms, yelling in his head.

 _Son of the sea!_ they called, _Prince Richard!_

 _Hey, guys!_ he replied, petting a small saltwater trout as it slipped between his fingers. He swore the thing almost purred. He swam out far, still roughly along the shore line, the sand dropping off until he was in open water. The fish faded back, but he could still hear their voices. He stopped several times to enjoy the weightlessness in the sea and wondered if this was what flying felt like. Percy had warned him of the dangers of children of Poseidon in the air, and he wondered if he could go in the Bioship anymore for missions after this was all over.

Whatever 'this' was.

He always felt a sense of calmness when he swam now. It was something he had never experienced before. He'd never really been to the beach growing up with his parents, and one place he had been too was the beach in Normandy. But as a child, and maybe this was due to his odd parentage, he'd felt a strange sense of sadness there. He'd never touched the water, no matter what his parents had encouraged, and they left soon after they'd arrived.

Once he reached where he knew the cave to be he banked back toward the shore and propelled himself down to the ground. Here it was dark, or he supposed it was, because he could see fine. The entrance to the cave was in the distance and he pushed himself through the cool water. He swam slowly up through the narrow walls, barely scraping his shoulders along the sides before he appeared and broke through the surface. Whatever ability he had to see under the water was useless now that he was in the open air. He was still dry and he clambered unhindered by slippery hands onto the rocks that made up the small shoreline. Finding a crease with his hands, while apprehensive because of bugs, he stuffed the bag in-between two sets of rocks. His bag was dark and without anyone looking for it deliberately, it'd be safe from anyone who would manage to get up here.

He dove back under the water.

Several fish greeted him as he got closer to the shore, their scales slimy as they brushed up against them.

 _Hey!_ he exclaimed, an idea forming in his head. _Can you guys send a message?_

 _A message!_ they chorused excitedly. _The Son of the sea wants us to send a message!_

Dick laughed, bubbles escaping his mouth. _Tell Aqualad that Robin is safe and that I'm okay. Tell him to tell Batman that I am safe too. That I'm sorry I had to leave and that I will be in contact soon. Once I figure out a way._

 _Safe!_ Some fish chorused, swimming off north in the direction of Rhode Island where the entrance to the cave was. He hoped his message would remain intact.

When he broke the surface by the camp's own beach, the moon was rising into the sky. He hurried out of the water, wincing as he realized he'd missed dinner, and bee-lined for their cabin. It was empty when he arrived, and he looked around the empty cabin with confusion. Rachel had been alright when he'd left and hopefully she still was.

He turned and walked through the camp to the Big House. He still had to talk to Chiron about whatever the centaur suspected about him. It was part of the reason he'd hidden his Robin gear. But if anyone were to know, it would be him. Dick wondered what it was like to live thousands of years and train heroes, to mentor them and show them how to defend themselves only to watch them fall. It must be sad. Depressing. He wondered if Black Canary felt a similar sense of responsibility. If she watched them go on missions and wondered if her training would be enough to keep them through to the end.

None of them had gotten dangerously hurt, or even killed, but it was always a real possibility.

He slowly opened the door to the Big House, walking in silently. The strange jaguar head was on the wall and the Ping Pong tale for regular meetings was pushed up against the side of the wall, foldable chairs leaning against it. The lights were dimmed, but the effect wasn't creepy at all. Dick felt that maybe his definition of creepy and others were a little different. He wandered back to where Chiron spent most of his time when he wasn't teaching Archery, a small office.

He knocked on the door.

Papers shuffled and he heard the sound of the wheelchair that Chiron often used sometimes and the door opened to find him sitting there with a blanket over his fake legs. "Come in!" he said, rolling back to sit behind the desk. Dick wasn't sure how he fit himself in the office without the wheelchair but decided that was a question for later.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he asked, voice quiet. He slid into one of the seats and sat with his hands gripping the sides. He was nervous, but kept his face calm and decided to let the Centaur speak. "Is Rachel okay?" he was concerned for the Oracle though, worried that maybe she wasn't alright.

"Rachel is okay," Chiron confirmed.

Dick let out a mall breathe of relief. "Okay. That's good."

"I did want to speak to you about you being here," Chiron said. "You're a very smart boy, and Percy has remarked recently that you've exceeded beginners training."

Dick felt faint blush brush across his cheeks, and his eyes flickered away from Chiron. He was a performer— any praise he got was welcome, but it mattered more coming from someone who knew what they were talking about. "I mean, yeah."

"Now, we still have yet to find you a weapon. What's wrong with the swords from the keep?" Chiron asked, lacing his fingers together and leaning forward onto the desk. He didn't seem angry, and his brown eyes seemed more concerned or questioning than anything else. Dick didn't feel anything malicious from him, but he was taught to doubt people no matter what. He wondered what his parents would think of that.

"They're unbalanced, or too heavy," he replied. "I've never worked with them before, but none of them seem right."

"I see," Chiron said. "Have you thought about using other weapons? A spear, perhaps? Or maybe a dagger. Traditionally, most children of Poseidon use swords as they are best with them. But Piper has already noted you were decently adept at the Bow and Arrow so perhaps you might be inclined toward something different."

"But I really like swords! None of the ones here work for me! That's not my fault!" he said, leaning forward a little with wide eyes.

Chiron looked skeptical. "There might be something else for you. Maybe you prefer working hand to hand?"

Dick paused and he receded and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. His eyes narrowed and he was in Robin mode now, a seriousness overtaking him. Batman's voice echoed in his head. Look for surroundings. Look for ways to escape. Look for ways to take down your enemy. "I'm not really coordinated like that, and I'm a little small anyway," he said, voice even.

Chiron leaned back a little, his hands resting on his blanket. "I think your coordination is in good shape. You're from Gotham, yes?"

Dick didn't hesitate, a small smile gracing his face. "Yeah, but I'm adopted. I spent most of my life around. Here and there you know?"

Chiron nodded. "Ah, yes. The adoption. Poseidon spoke of your adopted father a little with me."

"Did he?" Dick asked, his voice light. Almost airy. "Fascinating. I didn't think they'd met, you know, because I definitely never met the guy before this month." He added in a little bitterness to his voice, but the feeling was a little honest. The best lies were always half-truths.

Chiron looked a little embarrassed, but not surprised. "Oh. No. Not at all like that! I didn't mean…" he cleared his throat. "I meant to say, he mentioned that Mr. Wayne did some training to… help you and protect you from malicious threats."

Dick raised his eyebrows. "I see. I have some acrobatic training, you know."

"He mentioned that you were adapt at athletics. You're familiar with protecting those who can't do it themselves, as you know, you yourself were in that position."

Dick was fairly certain Chiron and he were alluding to him and Bruce moonlighting as Batman and Robin together, with Dick being the metaphor for the people of Gotham. It wasn't an inaccurate assessment, and Poseidon had seemed to know what Dick was doing in his free time. He rolled his shoulders back and uncrossed his arms, letting them rest on his legs. Chiron had been around awhile— he knew a practiced hand better than anyone, and Poseidon was a god.

"I'm familiar with acts of heroism," he noted, "Gotham has its own heroes."

"That it does," Chiron said lightly. "Don't hold back Dick."

"I have people to protect," Dick objected. "I can't just… compromise—."

"You're training and safety is the most important thing," Chiron said. "If Mr. Wayne cannot understand that… well, that's a different matter. There is danger coming, and I'm afraid you are at the heart of it. Lying, holding back… these children will not be able to trust you."

Dick thought back to the team with the centaurs words. Now they knew who he was, sure, but before it had always been a barrier. No name, birthday, address. Nothing. He couldn't even peep anything about school, names of teachers or friends. Even though they trusted each other in different ways— life and death— they didn't trust his word when it came down to the barest things. He knew it bothered Artemis and Zatanna, the two who'd grown up human. Kaldur didn't particularly mind, but that didn't stop him from being curious. M'gann always wanted to talk but in the end what did they all really have to talk about?

That would be different now. And he was getting older, getting to grow into his own person as a hero. As Robin. And he still didn't want to be Batman. He didn't want that feeling of letting people go for the mission. Of not trusting them, of pushing them away. He'd grown up in the Manor quite lonely at times, such a different setting to how he'd grown up with his parents. He felt that he didn't quite get people all the time sometimes, and that fear stemmed from watching a man he looked up to desperately push everyone else away. He feared he was turning into Batman, not Bruce per say, but he was turning into an idea. A being that literally embodied fear.

"I want them to trust me," Dick whispered. "But I'm not… I've never been… allowed to be open in a long time. With certain things. I'm always lying to someone." Barbara was his best friend but she also didn't know he was Robin. Wally knew both sides of things, but Dick could never bring himself to admit his emotions. The team hadn't known about his life as Dick Grayson. How could he learn to trust when he couldn't trust his closest friends?

"Surely, you've had people?"

Dick hesitated. "Babs, and Wally I guess. Bruce too, sometimes, when he can."

"You've done so in the past, then you can here. I'm not asking you to get along with everyone, though considering everyone likes you already you don't need to worry about that. Trust is not freely given, no, but it starts with being willing," Chiron said, worry returning to his features. Dick nodded, dropping his shoulders and his head a little.

"Yeah, I guess." He reached his hand forward and grinned. The centaur looked at it a moment before Dick grasped it. "Hi. My name is Dick Grayson."

Chiron smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grayson."

It was something. And for now, it would do.

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **Several Hours later**

* * *

Aqualad had never beelined to the cave so quickly before. He sprouted from the water and sprinted through to the living room where he knew the team to be resting in the summer heat. He appeared still sopping wet, stopping short as he noted Batman's presence as well. The man was talking to Black Canary, whispering quietly in the corner while the team seemed to wait in mild impatience.

"I have heard from Robin!" he said, his voice a little more rushed than normal. Batman and Black Canary whirled to look at him, and the team turned with wide eyes. Wally appeared suddenly in front of him, grasping his shoulders tightly and leaned forward with wide eyes. He spoke so rapidly that Kaldur didn't hope to understand him and only pulled away when Artemis walked up and wrenched him from Kaldur's shoulders.

"Talk," she uttered, eyes low with her brow furrowed, holding Wally back with one arm, the other arm holding up a hand that pointed at him.

"That is news," Black Canary said, making them all turn their heads toward her. She and Batman were walking forward. The heroine had her arms crossed as she walked forward, face stern.

Kaldur hesitated a little before he spoke, worried that he'd get the message wrong. Thankfully he'd been with his King when the fish had arrived because Aqualad couldn't speak to them. He was surprised to learn that Robin, Dick, could but it made sense. A son of Poseidon. He hadn't even really thought about it. There were more myths about them than real facts, given that there hadn't been one since before the Great War on the surface.

"I will tell you what he told me," Kaldur said, his voice stoic, "He said to tell me that he is safe and that he is okay. And to tell Batman that he's safe too. He is sorry he had to leave and that he will be in contact soon. He only has to figure out a way." He watched all their faces drop, probably hoping the message would be longer. He had asked his King several times if that had been all before the man had sent him away to tell the team and Batman the message. He'd chanted it over and over in his head, memorizing it.

Black Canary was the only one who seemed at all relieved at the news. She turned to Batman, her voice low but loud enough that they could all hear it. "He's safe. That's good."

Batman either ignored her or didn't hear her, taking a few steps forward to stand in front of Kaldur. The man's face was expressionless as it usually was under the cowl. Kaldur couldn't tell if the man was tense or not, and no relief showed in his features. He knew it was an act though, because he knew that Batman loved Robin as a son. "Where did you hear this?"

Kaldur didn't pause. "A small school of fish was given the message by Robin to report to me. I can't understand them, but fortunately my King can. He translated and I came straight here." He was still soaking wet, dripping onto the floor. It was quiet and the water dripping became almost deafening to his ears. The air conditioning was broke and there was no distant hum of anything to keep the silence from permeating around them. It felt solid, a breath held at a final moment of a race just waiting for the finale.

The team seemed tense still.

 _Link established,_ M'gann said in his mind. He'd gotten so used to it he didn't even bother to flinch.

 _A school of fish, seriously?_ Artemis asked, turning her body a little to look at him.

He didn't show that they were talking, still looking up at Batman passively. _I believe they were trout._

 _Whoa, that's sick. So Robin is okay! That's good news! I told you all to give him space,_ Wally noted, tapping his foot a little on the ground. He and Artemis had separated fairly quickly after Black Canary had come over, knowing that showing too much affection would get them in trouble.

 _We have,_ Connor snapped, _But he's our teammate. He can't just leave us out of this._

 _He kind of can,_ Raquel reasoned after they all paused a moment to think. _I mean, he's still entitled to a personal life. And let's be honest, this is all pretty personal to him._

"Thank you for telling me, Aqualad," Batman said, pulling their attention away from each other to look at him. He was already walking to the Zeta's.

Once he was gone, Black Canary turned to them. She looked out of place, unsure of her words. It was a strange look on a woman who was so strong to them, so powerful and who always seem sure of what to say. She had helped them through many tough times and now was hard on them. They were down an important team member and were a little lost and worried. There'd been no word and even Batman was tense and unsure. They were still just kids.

"He's just worried," she reasoned, voice shaky, "Robin's never been away for so long."

"We're worried too!" Zatanna exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Robin is… very close, ah," Black Canary paused, looking up at the ceiling as if it held the script to what she was trying to say. "Robin is like a son to Batman. I'm sure Robin will contact us soon. And at least he has contacted us. Diana… has been… very knowledgeable toward the league about getting answers about that world."

"I mean no disrespect," Kaldur said, "but Robin is our teammate as well. If there is knowledge pertaining to his situation that would be valuable to understanding it, it would be important for us to be made aware. I am not asking for the personal details of his life, those were already ripped away from him without a choice. But I ask for us to be given something to help us understand exactly what is going on."

Really, they'd managed to piece together some things. Robin's name was Dick Grayson, and at some point his parents had died. But the man who he thought was his father was not actually his father, it was Poseidon. His powers had remained dormant for a time being, probably to protect him, but the spell had worn off. He was being attacked and he had to go to some camp to train with others like him. But there'd been no other contact or information. Batman had been quiet and, aside from learning that their friend wasn't entirely human as they'd thought, nothing had been truly said to them about it.

He supposed that they would have preferred to learn about Dick Grayson of his own volition, but now they knew and it was out in the open. And Kaldur was excited to get to know Dick Grayson just as much as he had been to know Robin. Even if he'd maintained a healthy distance at first. It was something.

Black Canary looked over at them softly. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

 **Camp Half-Blood**

 **Now; 12:37 AM**

* * *

Dick feels like he's floating again, but not in the comforting warmth of water around him. It's a harsh floating, pulling him in a direction he can't see. He doesn't see anything yet. It's cloudy and misty around his eyes; so much that he can't see his hand in front of his face. He instinctively reaches for his utility belt for a bat-a-rang, but his belt is gone. So then he reaches where his sword usually would have been _if he had one_ and then realizes that he's in his pajamas. He's dreaming.

He waits around a little, unsure of what kind of nightmarish prophetic dream this is. Because eternal darkness does kind of suck, and there's no sound either because he hears absolutely nothing, but really at least nothing seems to be in pain. He doesn't feel claustrophobic. He could be out in open air for all he knew, it's just dark. There's no temperature, but he doesn't even know if he could feel that given that he's probably dreaming.

He lingers in the air, spinning around in minute circles as he thinks about what he is planning on doing later in the day when he finally wakes up. Is this even a dream worth telling them about? He could think about what Chiron had asked of him. He had to be willing to trust others from them to want to trust him back. He supposed he never thought about it that way. On the team, he'd always expected others to just trust him because he was the most experienced. But he didn't necessarily need to trust them. But things didn't work that way.

He felt a rushing sensation, like he was falling. Fear gripped his heart, even though he knew he was dreaming. He didn't scream, but the thought of landing without any gear or idea where the ground was or his goddamned utility belt was terrifying. Bodies flashed through his mind. Maybe this was just a normal nightmare and he was eternally falling until he woke up. But naturally that couldn't happen, and he dropped landed in a large lab.

Large concrete columns loomed around him, and in-between the columns were small holding tanks fogged over. They looked similar to Cadmus's clone tanks. But there were no insignia's or anything on the covers and no bodies in the tanks. It was eerily empty and the low lights cast grey shadows on the ceiling and the spaces around the tanks. Dick felt like he was in a modernized Frankenstein's lab, except there were no scalpels anywhere and it was actually quite clean.

There were no people around either and the emptiness felt almost worse than the bleak darkness he'd been surrounded in.

"Do not speak a word," a voice said.

Dick looked around wildly, whirling to find a woman dressed in a green toga, dark red hair slung back in a braid and wrapped in a tight bun. It curls around her face, framing dark black eyes with no whites. Her skin is pale and smooth, like bone. "You!" he exclaimed.

Mnemosyne glowered. "I said to not speak a word child, quiet."

He snapped his mouth shut and nodded.

She looked over her shoulders and then up at Dick. He was floating above her drifting in a nonexistent wind. "You are here by my doing," she voiced, "You are not to speak a word while you're here. And you must report all you see to that Centaur of yours."

Dick paused. Double agents were commons in wars, as well as spies. She had been working with the Titan Prometheus in that last dream he'd seen with them. Though, she'd called him foolish and told him a war would be stupid. She'd vaguely implied that she could sense Dick there the last time and if she could sense him in this dream state, then she could manipulate what he saw and did.

"I sense your doubt," she said, "Wise. You must forgive me. I had no choice— I can manipulate dreams to an extent. But I am still the Titan of Memory. I feel some unpleasant thoughts will enter your head."

 _I'll manage,_ he thought dryly, but she was turning away from him and toward the sound of footsteps. He looked up to find Prometheus and a man in a lab coat. They stalked toward Mnemosyne, Prometheus looking around the large underground lab quite proudly, as if he were the one to construct it. The man in the coat had a dazed look on his face.

"It's all quite ready," he said in a light voice, as if he were asking about the weather. His accent, South Britain (Sussex?), was slurred. He swayed a little in his shoes. Dick whirled around the room. Where was he? He'd already identified several exists, not including the invisible one these two had apparently come from. He leaned around several of the columns and spotted a sign.

SEC 16 LV 5

"It looks spectacular, I see that it will do well," Prometheus remarked as Dick was forcibly dragged around to face them.

"Are they ready?" Mnemosyne asked, arms crossed as she faced them.

"Almost," Lab-coat replied, "I have to get permission from superiors."

"Get it," Prometheus snapped, snapping his fingers at the man. "My superior can't wait."

"Yessir," Lab-coat slurred, his eyes sparkling. Dick wondered if the man was being manipulated by the mist. He couldn't spot a name or a place of work, but Dick felt dread spread over him. This was beyond just the gods. They were involving mortals— scientists— to create something for them, something a Titan couldn't do on his own. That his employer couldn't do on his own.

Dick felt himself be pulled away. He reached out, desperate to discover more, but he was suddenly falling. He was in Gotham in an instant, watching as a flipping coin came down toward his eyes. He didn't flinch before the scene twisted itself out of that, and he was at Cadmus, reaching forward to a Superman insignia on a capsule. He opened it, but instead of Superboy— Connor, his friend— he found Prometheus with wide eyes and a Joker grin.

Dick winced back, turning and finding himself on a platform. He was reaching out, a hand just slipping from his as he watched his mother say his name, a faint whisper in a sea of silence. His family dropped and he couldn't turn away from the memory. He saw red suddenly, his voice didn't work as he tried to cry out. The red turned into red and blue lights swirling around him, a blanket and a hand on his shoulder. In the distance was a man with a golden mask and knives across his chest, watching, and then Bruce Wayne was there.

"Do you know who you are?" he asked in a voice that wasn't his. It was dry and empty and felt like Dick was knocking on a hallow tree. "Who are you?"

Dick Grayson! he wanted to scream, pulling himself away. I'm Dick Grayson!

"You're not a Grayson!" fake-Bruce sneered, his face twisting. "You have no right to that name!"

Dick twisted out of the way and whirled around, the images and noises and sounds throwing him around and why _couldn't he speak!_ He is facing a cloudy forest and a gloved hand pulling a sword from nothingness before it all fades to black and someone is pulling him up from the ground.

He gasped, sweat dripping off of him and he swears he hears Mnemosyne ask for forgiveness. He doesn't really want to give it. But he can't focus on that now, because his ears are ringing and that someone is saying something but he can't hear him now and there's a hand reaching toward him. Dick lashed out, pulling his hand back and then forward in a tight punch to the throat. The figure dropped back and Dick lunged forward and twisted around to bring the body to the ground.

"Dick!"

Dick stopped. "Percy?"

"Let go!"

Dick flung himself off his brother, standing back and watching in a horrified terror as his brother picked himself off his ground and rubbed his throat. A bright red mark from Dick's fist was forming and he knew it would probably bruise.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Forget about it," Percy said, his voice jumbling together as he spoke. It sounded a little scratchy. "You were having a nightmare."

Dick wavered, and Percy reached forward to hold his shoulder and steady him. "I have to call Bruce!" Dick insisted, "He needs to know…!"

"Know what, what'd you see?" Percy asked, in front of him and holding both his shoulders. Dick blubbered, still feeling the faint touch of a hand slip through his a he hesitated a barest moment. Red to red and blue swirls. Knives. The sword.

"I need to call Bruce!" Dick repeated.

"Okay," Percy said, looking over his shoulder. "Okay, come on. I know how we can call Bruce."

Dick followed Percy out of their cabin, both still in their pajamas as they walked to the Big House. He stumbled a little, still a little dazed. He kept repeating the numbers in his head. Numbers he was good at. SEC 16 LV 5.

16 times 5 was 80. 80 divided by 2 was 40. The square root of 40 was 6.324. 6.324 divided by 2 was 3.162. 3.162 squared was 9.998. He chanted numbers in his head, relaxing at the formulaic thought process. Math never changed, never moved. It was constant. It stayed the same no matter what and right now Dick needed something constant, that didn't change. He needed to call Bruce.

Percy rushed him up to the Big House's porch and then swung the door open with a hardy kick. "Chiron!" he yelled, pushing Dick into one of the couches before he disappeared behind a corner toward Chiron's office. Dick closed his eyes and steadied himself. The two appeared a moment later, Percy's worry still etched on his face. Chiron was out of his wheelchair, clopping forward with heavy hoofs. His tail was wrapped in curlers, a fact Dick didn't process until much later, and he looked weary.

"A nightmare?" he asked, leaning down a little.

Dick nodded mutely. He paused, unsure of what to say. He could trust Chiron. He could trust Percy. He needed to be willing. He let out a breath and told them about the lab, about what Mnemosyne told him about Prometheus and Lab-coat. "The dream changed then," he said, "I saw… um, I was back in Gotham and there was a coin flipping. Two Face. And then I saw my p…parents dying again," he hiccupped. "And then I um, saw Prometheus again but he was… um, he was smiling Joker's smile. And then I saw someone holding a sword."

He looked up at them. Chiron was working through something in his head and turned away to think. Percy was staring him with some sort of sadness. "I forgot you're from Gotham." A pause. "Your parents?"

"I wasn't born there," Dick said miserably. He actually doesn't even know where he was born, pretty sure it was at the circus somewhere on the train probably. "That's just where they died."

Percy sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around him in a half hug. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"They fell," he said softly. "Um, you know. We were acrobats. And they fell." He didn't turn to look at Percy's face, to see his reaction. He was used to the look of pity and the look of fake sympathy. He didn't expect to see the fake sympathy, but he couldn't stand the look of pity.

"I thought I saw my mom die one time," Percy replied surprisingly. "It was the first time she brought me to camp, and we were being chased by the Minotaur. She told me to go but I couldn't leave her. He grabbed her by the neck and then… she just disappeared. I didn't know it at the time, I thought she'd died, but Hades had just captured her before the Minotaur crushed her neck. I thought it was my fault."

Dick looked up at his brother, his shoulders dropping. Even though Percy's mom wasn't actually dead, and hadn't died, Percy had lived with that knowledge that he might've been at fault for his mother's death. A death that, while not permanent, he had witnessed. "I saw it all happen," he said. "But they didn't come back. I just watched them fall. I was about to grab my mom's hand, but I hesitated. I was scared. That split second saved me."

"I'm so sorry," Percy said, his voice low. "I'm sorry, Dick. That's _awful._ "

"Yeah," he said softly, "It was."

"Boys?"

They both looked up at Chiron. He was pulling off his nightcap. He turned to Dick, brow furrowed. "You can Iris-message Mr. Wayne. I believe this goes beyond us now."

Dick jumped up, pulling himself from his brothers comforting hand and walking toward a small room off to the side with a little fountain resting in the center. It didn't spray a stream of water, but rather a mist, and a light shining on it to create a rainbow. Chiron handed him a large Greek coin, a _Drachma._ "Repeat these words, 'Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Toss the coin in and then say with whom you'd wish to speak and where they should be. Percy and I shall… remain out here should you need us."

He disappeared out the door and closed it behind him. Dick let out a breathe.

He tossed the coin in and repeated the statement. "Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Um, show me Bruce Wayne, please? He should be at Wayne Manor but maybe he's at the Watchtower? It's late but sometimes he is on the monitor duty? And— Bruce!"

Bruce appeared in the mist, slightly distorted by the rainbow. He was in the Batcave, cowl off, looking up at one of the computers. He jumped a little and turned, reaching back to grab a bat-a-rang probably but then saw his son's smiling face in the strange mist that had appeared. "Dick? Dick!"

Dick smiled a little, eyebrows raising. "Hey, B."

"You're safe. Thank god. Aqualad gave us your message, but we couldn't be sure…"

"I am, I promise. I actually… am calling you on League business. I had another nightmare and whatever it was goes beyond all of this." He gestured around him with his hands, careful not to destroy the picture. "So, sorry."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Robin. Report," he said, his voice all business.

Dick felt his back and shoulders straighten. He echoed what he had stated to Chiron and Percy about the lab, but without leaving out all the numbers and floor level. He told him what he'd seen and what the Titaness had said about him needing to report everything. Then he stopped and took a breath.

"Robin?"

"I saw, um, Two-face. Flipping a coin over me again," he said miserably, voice cracking. "And then um, I saw my parents again. I was… remembering things. Mnemosyne said that she could control dreams a little, but that she was the titan of memory and I'd probably see some bad things. I saw the circus again and then you were there, asking me who I was but it wasn't you really, and I couldn't talk but I wanted to say I was Dick Grayson. But then you said I wasn't Grayson and I didn't have a right to that name and use it. And there was this person that I didn't even remember seeing and then I saw Prometheus again, but he was in Superboy's capsule from Cadmus. And when I opened it he had Joker's smile. And then um… I uh, I don't know. It was bad. It was bad. But I needed to tell you about the lab and stuff."

Bruce looked away, leaning back into his chair, "That is curious. What were the numbers again?"

"SEC 16 LV 5," Dick repeated, feeling odd without his mask suddenly. "It was dark. No windows. Lots of capsules and tanks. Probably underground."

"Cadmus?"

"It's a start," Dick said. "It seemed familiar, but I'm not sure. Clearly it's connected, but how? What are they doing?"

"That's a good question. I'll have the league investigate. I'm going on a mission for a couple of days, I'm glad you caught me," Bruce said, turning to face him a little more properly. "Are you okay? Have you made friends?"

Dick paused and smiled a little. "I um. Yeah. Actually. I met Poseidon and my… my brother."

Bruce jerked back a little, surprise clearly written on his face. "Brother?"

"Half-brother," Dick corrected, "But yeah, the real deal. He's actually really cool. He's a couple years older than me. His name is Percy! He's fought in two wars actually and has had a lot of training, he's teaching me how to use the sword. None of them are right for me though, so we're waiting to find the right one. He's really nice and I think he really wants to get to know me."

Bruce was smiling lightly. "That's fantastic, Dick."

"I have a brother," Dick said proudly.

"You have a brother," Bruce said. "And Poseidon, how was he?"

"Weird," Dick noted, thinking back to their meeting. "But he said he was proud of me and that I'm a hero in more ways than one."

Bruce looked away and then nodded. "That's good. He should be."

"Thanks, B," Dick said, shoulders dropping. "I don't know if it meant that much though."

Bruce only cocked an eyebrow. Dick lolled his head side to side, juggling his thoughts. "I guess I mean. He didn't raise me, he only watched from the outside. It's kind of like having a basketball player you kind of have a connection to and really like and you've watched them their entire career and they just do really well and when you finally meet them, the only thing you can say is 'I'm proud of you'."

"I see," Bruce said, "That's an interesting metaphor."

It was silent.

Dick cleared his throat. "It means more coming from you, anyhow."

"What does?"

"That you're proud of me."

"I am proud of you."

"Exactly," Dick said, puffing his chest out a little. "But I met Percy's friends! His girlfriend Annabeth, I've only met her a couple of times in passing but she's really cool. And then Piper is awesome! She kind of reminds me of Babs a little, and she's wicked with a dagger. Apparently it was Helen of Troy's. And then Jason is my cousin! I have four cousin's Bruce! He's a son of Zeus, which is awesome. He can fly apparently, I'm a little jealous. But I can breathe under water and talk to fish, I guess you already know that though. And I'm decent with a sword, I've been using acrobatics a little…" he paused.

"Dick?"

"I'm not using Robin stuff," he said quietly. "I uh, I've been good about that."

"Dick—."

"Keeping our identities straight and all that, I know it matters."

"Dick."

"Yeah?"

"Do you trust your brother?"

Dick paused, furrowing his brow. "I'm starting too. I don't know if I do yet. But I talked to Chiron and all and he said for people to trust you, you have to be willing."

"He's a wise man," Bruce replied.

"Yeah," he echoed. "He is. Thank you for being all supportive about this."

Bruce leaned back a little and ran a hand through his hair. "I had a talk with Diana. She said that sometimes kids need support instead of protection. I'm—."

"You're doing great, B," Dick said with a smile. "I'm learning a lot here and I am… enjoying it. I'm just worried about my identity and all that. But it seems like we're both learning a little bit about trust."

Bruce smiled lightly. "It seems we are."

Dick smiled. "I should go back. I miss you, partner."

Bruce nodded. "I miss you too partner."

Dick grinned and swept his hand through. He let the silence rest, the only sound the drips of the water from the fountain. He sighed and he dropped his shoulders, feeling a little lighter than he had before he had entered. He opened the door and walked out, noticing that Chiron was standing by the couches. Percy was knocked out on the couch, drooling a little and one arm slung over his forehead.

"He okay?"

Chiron looked up, glasses sliding down his face a little. "Hm? Oh, yes, he's fine. Did you contact Mr. Wayne?"

"Bruce? Yeah," Dick paused. "He's telling the League. Well, he's kinda friends with Diana. Like, there's a thing there." He felt a faint blush rush over his face. "So, she's telling him."

Chiron glanced at Dick with a raised eyebrow and then turned to Percy. "I've often heard he sleeps like a rock. At least at camp. A good cover, though."

Dick grinned. "We've covered our bases."

"I can see that. I'll have you and Percy visit Rachel in the morning."

"She's good now?"

"For now, yes," Chiron replied. He walked over and put a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Go get some rest, we'll talk in the morning."

 ** _To be continued..._**

* * *

 **Dear lord, this was a long one. I actually cut stuff out. Which is hard to think about. The chapters are going to get a lot longer. While I was on vacation, I took a notebook with me to plan out chapters and write stuff out. 1-5 was a lot of winging believe it or not. Like I had ideas but it just well... you know. Eh. But I've been planning stuff out and the notes from these past two chapters were about half a page each. And this one was about twenty pages on word (we reached the one hundred page mark!) so imagine the chapter notes that are each a page. They're going to be long! Hope this one was good, I've been writing while my mom and sister watch TV so I get a little distracted. Message me for questions if you have them! I'm also always down to just talk PJO or YJ.**

 **-E**


	9. The Prophecy

**The Next Day**

* * *

Dick woke up the next morning to silence. Percy was snoring lightly beside him, one hand brushing against the floor of their cabin. It must've still been early, and the light was shining through their bare, low windows at an angle that suggested that the sun had just risen. Dick had grown up rising at an early schedule. Even though traveling around on a train to various cities around the entire world seemed idyllic, it was busy. Between his homeschooling, practice, running the circus, scheduling, and performing it was hectic and there was constant movement.

It was part of the reason Dick was always doing something. Bruce had noted one time that he rarely ever found Dick just doing nothing. He'd said that Dick probably felt that if he wasn't doing something productive, he was doing something wrong. It was partly true. He liked to be doing things; moving, thinking, figuring things out, helping. It was just who he was. The other part of him just felt that if he was doing something, he wouldn't have to think about his problems. It made things easier.

He slid out of his bunk and padded over to a small dresser, ripping out several old clothes he needed to clean. When he finally found something (camp shirt, shorts, and flip flops he'd been lended by some kid in the Apollo cabin), he quickly changed and slipped out of the cabin. It was barely six in the morning, his internal clock ticking correctly even after all this time. He walked around. There were a few campers up, some already heading down to the training area to practice.

Dick grinned. He took off after them, jumping and flipping over the fence to watch as a girl from the Hecate cabin and a girl from the Athena cabin get into their starting positions. Some other campers milled about, watching and yelling from the sidelines as the two began to fight. Some offered tips, others offered boos or cheers, and some yet remained quietly. Those were the older, more seasoned campers. Dick kept his mouth shut, but his eyes followed every mistake or correct move they made.

"Enjoying the show?"

He turned to find Annabeth standing behind him, hand on her hips. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, fat curls falling from it as she bounced over the fence to stand by his side. He looked up at her. Battle hardened but kind. Fierce and insanely proud. She was a warrior and her eyes reminded him of Gotham City. Cold and tired but built from steel and storms. She looked ready to take down anything. She and Percy had single streaks of grey in their hair. Hers was barely noticeable through her blonde, but it was clear there was a story behind it. He had a story behind almost every one of his scars and wounds he'd received.

He turned back to the fight and pressed his lips into a thin line. "Yeah. I like it. You?"

Annabeth shrugged, pushing a loose curl from her face. "It's interesting."

The stood in silence, watching as the Athena girl took down the Hecate daughter. The two moved off the training ground arm in arm, laughing at something that had happened during their duel. Two more kids moved on. Annabeth congratulated her half-sister before he leaned back on the fence to watch the next fight.

Dick bit his lip. There were plenty of things he could talk about, but he wasn't sure where to start. "You, um, like architecture yeah?"

She looked at him on the corner of her eyes before she gave him a sharp nod. "I do."

He rocked back on his heels and then forward again, sighing dramatically. "Have you been to the Benedictine Building in Gotham City?"

She turned to look at him fully now, up and down as if trying to decipher just what he was playing at. Dick liked her, but they hadn't ever just talked. "No, I haven't been to Gotham actually. It's never… peaked my interest."

Gotham was a strange city. There were weird places you just avoided, that even criminals avoided. Strange statues that local communities swore moved, odd shops that were there in a moment and then gone in the blink of an eye, people being spotted in two places at once. Most of it was folklore, but Gotham did seem to breath with an ancient mist. The city was relatively young, though, in comparison to its Eastern counterparts like London or even further back like Damascus. But it's stories and people seemed rooted there like the trees; always belonging, always existing, and always being. The architecture was an odd mesh of Gothic (heh) and sixties bunkers, squeezed in between modern skyscrapers and new age art.

Dick had only been to the city several times before he'd moved in with Bruce, and he'd noted to the older man that it was like a looming tower, the entire city, with a monster in its veins. Not quite what he'd said as an eight year old, but Bruce had remarked that he hadn't even thought of the city as anything other than home.

So, to each his own.

He could see why people avoided it, even if they didn't realize they were avoiding it at all. No one just really went to Gotham, not unless they had some other business going on there and it wasn't like it was a vacation spot.

"It's this really old building that was brought over from Italy and rebuilt here brick by brick. Really cool! It's a museum now, but I've been there before for, uh, some dinners they have there and it's all really neat," he said, wincing at his stumble. He'd been about to say several galas that Bruce had hosted there, but stopped himself at the last moment. It wasn't technically a lie, but he still felt bad.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows a little. "What's the architecture actually like?"

Dick grinned. "Like, you know, Late Renaissance. The main building is like a giant square that goes out in four different directions. It's pretty asterous."

Her lips twitched. "Asterous?"

"Yeah, like opposite of disaster. Aster."

She pursed her lips, kicking the dirt with her heel. "Okay. Interesting. You're filled with a lot of… odd knowledge."

"Oh, don't get me started," he said dramatically, pushing himself off the fence and falling into a perfect handstand, lifting up one hand expertly and putting it behind his back. "I actually collect information through osmosis. Little known fact about children of Poseidon."

She laughed, "I think Percy would've abused that if he could've!"

"Percy would've abused what if he could what?" Percy's voice said, flitting in between laughter of campers and swords clashing together. He jumped over the fence and looked at Dick up and down, who'd turn to face him.

"Instantaneous knowledge through the absorption of it from various materials," Dick replied, falling back and landing on his feet. He spread his arms wide. "It's why I'm smart. SMRT."

Annabeth quirked an eyebrow and Percy laughed, even if it was halfhearted in the morning. "I think you missed a letter," the blonde said, shaking her head. Percy rubbed at his eyes and then pecked his girlfriend on the cheek. He turned to Dick with a smile.

"You're up early. I didn't even hear you leave," he jerked his bead to the beach. "I was wondering if you wanted to get a taste of powers today after we walk to Rachel."

Annabeth frowned, looking between the two. "Rachel?"

"About a quest," Percy replied.

"Which no one had quite explained to me what a quest is. Not that I don't have an idea, but it'd be nice to know like a clear explanation," Dick said, looking up at them. Percy was still swaying slightly, as if asleep. Annabeth looked sharp and ready to go, but when she turned to Percy she had a dark and tired look on her eyes, like hearing the word 'quest' was enough to put her asleep for a lifetime.

"Well, what do you think?" Percy asked, blinking heavily.

Dick paused. Basically, like missions. Except probably longer, probably much more danger, and arguably much more lives at stake depending what exactly the endgame of the quest was. "Probably dangerous," he paused again, juggling his thoughts. "Arguably for a good cause. Um. 100% chance of swords being there."

Percy put out a fist for Dick to pound. "Nailed it."

Annabeth let out a half scoff, half laugh. "Okay, there's more to it than that."

"Well great, once we gather the necessary information to go and get on this quest we'll be wholly prepared to not die and consequently succeed on our endeavors," Dick said, seriously, his face dropping so he was looking up at Percy and Annabeth through his lashes. The both paused, clearly unsure of the change of attitude. But Dick laughed, throwing back his head. "Kidding! Kind of."

"Breakfast is starting soon," Annabeth said, shaking her head and looking down at her watch. "Let's head over there."

* * *

Because Dick wasn't technically a counselor and he wasn't technically allowed to talk at the meeting and technically not really even probably allowed to go on this quest because he'd been at the camp for little over a month, roughly, and so he wasn't allowed to sit in the meeting to determine if a quest was the right course of action. He was, personally, all for it. Gung-ho and all that. But Percy and Annabeth seemed apprehensive and tired and he supposed that that came with fighting the last war. Or just two wars altogether.

He couldn't seem to get a direct answer of what happened. His cousin, Jason, said nothing. He avoided the subject like he avoided the beach and would quickly change the subject to something he knew Dick liked talking about. Piper, in contrast, was a little more open but still said that their story was their own and that if they wished for Dick to know what exactly happened to them, he could ask. It wasn't like he was against asking, it was just a difficult topic to broach. He recalled a substitute at his school— some ninety years old, a WWII veteran and teaching art whenever the school needed someone. He'd been sitting at Dick's table, who was slowly drowning in paint, and listened to an obnoxious sophomore ask if he'd ever killed anyone during the war.

A big no-no, as his father had instructed him one time. You didn't ask if someone killed someone, or if they remembered the height of battle. There were delicacies to asking questions about heavy topics, and asking Percy and Annabeth what horrors they'd received during the previous war wasn't delicate or very nice at all. Dick knew if someone tramped up to him demanding to know every little terrible thing he'd seen in his life he'd probably either punch them or burst into tears.

He had no inclination to feel what Annabeth's right hook felt like.

He leaned back into the wooden chair outside of the meeting room of the big house, legs brought up so he was holding them with his arms, chin resting on his knees. He was curious and had he had more of it he would've been sitting in the air vents. No, his small bag he'd kept in case of emergencies was just transmitting within the dome of the camp. The lack of cell phones and technology hadn't gone unnoticed and he'd figured either they didn't transmit or it was bad to be on the web. So his small bug transmitted to his ear piece and he listened with rapt attention to the various camp counselors discussing the next apparent war.

There was a lot of arguing, but still apprehension. None of them seemed particularly inclined to head into this all willy-nilly and really, until they had the quest, they didn't know the full extent of what was going to happen. Right now, they were just debating on asking for the quest itself. Dick wanted it, assuming that he could be helping Percy to find whatever it was they needed against whomever it was they were fighting.

He flopped over on the chair and laid with his head resting on his forearm, watching the archers practice. He wondered if Artemis would do well here. She was awesome and wicked with a bow, and Dick would bet on her to show some of the Apollo cabin up, definitely. He missed the team.

*crackle* "— _ridiculous to even assume that we would be willing—!"_

 _"_ _This is getting dangerous. There are other things that are affecting this that we can't begin to comprehend!"_

 _"_ _Then let the mortals deal with it, they have their heroes."_

 _"_ _It goes beyond that, Clarisse."_

Dick winced at the crack and lowered the volume on his earpiece.

 _"_ _We don't even know what it is yet! Why should I be willing—."_

 _"_ _It's not about being willing,"_ Percy's calm voice broke through the exclamations _. "It's about doing the right thing. The mortals will only know what they can see and we aren't heroes because we save the world for ourselves, we're heroes because we save the world for those who can't."_

There's a ringing silence on the other end, and Dick has to check to make sure his bug is still transmitting. It's a truth he didn't think he'd hear from anyone else but in the league, or cops, or veterans, or war heroes. But, he supposed, Percy was kind of like that. He wondered if the older boy sat up late at night thinking about what he did and why he did it. He wondered if Percy sat there thinking about his actions and wondered why his life had worked out that way. Dick knew why he did what he did. His thoughts and ideas were clear.

He was a hero, he was Robin, because he didn't want anyone to feel the pain that he did when he lost his parents.

The earpiece crackles again and Dick winces, pulling away even though it's in his ear.

 _"_ _Percy is right,"_ Jason said, _"and we still need to get the quest."_

 _"_ _A quest makes it final!"_ someone shouted.

 _"_ _It's final whether we like it or not,"_ another voice said, _"And we should just get the kid to ask Rachel."_

 _"_ _Rachel would like a say in this,"_ Rachel said, her voice piping up and making the earpiece crackle loudly. _"I think we should let Dick ask for the quest. Because, that's what we're doing here right? I mean, he's kinda the center of this whether he likes it or not. And he deserves to know what he's getting in to."_

Dick snorted at that. Because, wow. He wished the League worked that way. God knew he wished Bruce worked that way. He straightened a little. "Yeah, Dick does deserve to know what he's getting into," he said, echoing Rachel's use of the third person.

They continued to argue and Dick was still lying down on the bench, not quite paying attention to what they were saying. He would go whether they wanted it or not, maybe even take the team with him. Not that they would be much use, they couldn't see the monsters. And well, they couldn't just beat up everything that might be a monster— even if Connor had a habit of beating up everything anyway. He'd gotten a lot better, in the long run, though.

The door bursts open suddenly, and it's Piper standing there with a dark looks in her Kaleidoscope eyes. Dick jerks up and looked at her through his lashes. She beacons him through the door and he hops up over the bench and through the door, looking into the room. There's the ping-pong table that's been extended with a second ping-pong table and there's a ring of counselors sitting in foldable chairs. There's an air conditioner humming in the background, even though outside is plenty comfortable.

Everyone is looking at him expectantly. Rachel is standing by Chiron, her arms folded and her Camp Shirt tied up with a hair tie at her waist.

Piper kind of guides him back to where Rachel and Chiron are. Percy is leaning back in his chair a little lazily, haphazardly putting his weight on the back two legs.

"We need you to ask Rachel for a quest," Chiron explained, gesturing toward the Oracle.

Dick looks between the two of them. Surprisingly, it's Annabeth who nods in encouragement at him. He kind of gulps, because he's not used to getting "missions" in this way. He doesn't mind the attention, not really, but it's still uncomfortable. He turned to look at Rachel, and she has an kind smile on her face. Dick kind of sees Barbara for a moment, and he misses her. But he steals that away and grins back.

"What do I have to do?"

Rachel gestured to herself. "Just ask me," she said.

He shrugged a little, grinning. "Okay. Rachel, I guess I'm looking for a quest."

Dick wasn't sure if he'd be able to explain it, but something overtook Rachel. Green mist poured around her, and her eyes glowed green. It reminded him of M'gann. Her voice was raspy, ancient and like a thousand voices all speaking at once. A small part of his mind supplied an image of Batman giving them their missions in the same voice but Rachel's speech drowned the thought out.

" _A team of justice and ancient hero/ Combine and fight in a world divided/ A child of law, a bird of sorrow/ Against old and new they must fight to free/ Western shields and a goddess of preservation/ Hold ancient spells to forever be,"_ Rachel shakes a little at the end, and falls seamlessly into Piper's waiting arms.

"What the hell does that mean?" Clarisse said, looking around the ping-pong table. The senior counselors are all murmuring to themselves, turning to face each other. Percy has stopped leaning on the two chair legs and has his hands folded on the ping-pong table, looking at Annabeth. They seem to be having a silent conversation that Dick can't follow, but Jason is looking between the two of them with a small grim look on his face.

"It's best not to figure out what the meaning is, we'll think it's one thing and then not expect the truth," Travis Stoll said, surprisingly serious.

"A child of law," Lou Ellen mused, "that must mean a kid of Themis right?"

"There aren't any," another piped up, from the Hephaestus cabin, "She's strictly no kids right?"

"She is," Chiron replied, "so it must mean something else. The question remains."

He didn't finish the statement, if he was even planning on it. Dick actually felt he knew what some of them meant, maybe not the child of law, but the bird of sorrow was definitely him. And he wasn't sure how he felt about being called a bird of sorrow. A team of justice? The Justice League? Or maybe the team. Or maybe Themis giving a sponsorship? Like, hey, go fight for solid truth, justice, and the American way. Ironically, they were looking for a shield anyway.

"So what's this mean for us? For Dick?" Percy said, gesturing to his brother.

"Dick needs to go West with a child of law and… find something to protect us?" Piper asked, still steadying Rachel.

"A goddess of preservation? This one is both cryptic and surprisingly clear," Annabeth, looking at all of them. "Soteria would be my guess."

There is a murmur of agreement around the table. Dick looks at all of them, furrowing his brow.

"Soteria? Who's she?" Dick asked.

Annabeth turned a little in her seat, playing with a strand of hair. "She's a… minor goddess," her eyes flickered around the table. "She's a goddess of protection and safety. She's minor but powerful. You wanted a safe journey, you prayed to Hermes. You wanted a safe existence? You prayed to her."

"Oh," Dick said, "Okay. So I have to find her and… what?"

"Good question," Jason mused, scrunching up his face. "A bird of sorrow?"

"Any myths mention a bird of sorrow?" Piper asked. "I know there are Native American ones… but none that I'm totally familiar with."

They table fell silent and everyone looked down. Most birds were sacred to various gods and goddesses, generally as messengers. Athena's owls were the most obvious, or Hera's peacock. But they were side figures and generally not important to the story.

"Can we look out of Greek myths though? I mean, we've dealt with other things that aren't Greek," Jason said, somewhat gesturing to his whole self. And then at Percy. "Like, you know, the Egyptians."

Dick sourly swallowed that information for latter, a little surprised that no one mentioned anything about this before. It didn't feel like they were withholding the information on purpose, but more so it just hadn't come up. Which, in terms of getting and not getting information, that was so much better than just straight up withholding the information.

Chiron seemed to juggle the thoughts in his head, looking at Dick strangely. "Some birds," he said, "often have terrible myths or stories attached to them. Crows are figures of prophecy and bad tidings, transcending even our stories to go North. The Boobrie is long connected to water and horses, and the Hoopoe is known as a Healer in the Middle East. But there are few birds as connected to true death as we know it. Often, they are seen as representing death— the Raven, for example, or the Heron. The Wren is a symbol of pain, having stolen fire from heaven and brought it down to Earth. Robins are often a symbol of sorrow, having being burned by the fires of hell, and sometimes the bringers of new faith. Sometimes, they are seen are the souls of the dead. But even if these exist outside of our myths, they can still affect us."

The room is quiet and Dick is staring at Chiron intently. The man obviously knows. He knew Robin held some symbolism. He was born on the first day of spring and he was an acrobat, so she called him her little Robin. He didn't know about all this death nonsense, but it was a little ironic he was Robin to represent his mom, a tribute to his family, and it was a symbol of souls of the dead.

"I still don't see why we have to get involved," a kid from a cabin Dick wasn't sure about said. "The mortals can handle their bit on their own. The only reason some of you want to help is because you have some weird obligation to your mortal parent."

"It's the right thing to do," Percy spoke up.

"It's a waste of time," the kid said. "You actually have a mortal parent who cares. I'm sure he does too." The boy jerked his head in Dick's direction.

Dick's hands curled into fists. "No, actually. My parents were killed by the hand of another 'mortal'. Does he deserve to be save? Not at all. But I'm not gonna sit there and judge all of humanity because some guy wanted some money. Percy's right, it's just the right thing to do," he snapped. "So, shut up."

The kid jerked back but didn't say anything, looking away.

"So, robins?" Jason asked.

Dick winced and looked away.

"It's unclear," Chiron said. "Dick, you'll lead this quest."

Dick's heart stilled to a slow steady stop. "Wait, lead?" He couldn't lead. He couldn't do that. He was just introduced to this world. He wasn't a leader. That was Percy. Jason, or Annabeth. That was Kaldur, Batman. Superman. Not Dick Grayson, not the small kid who couldn't even succeed in a fake reality. "I can't… be a leader."

"It's your quest, you're the leader," Clarisse snorted, leaning back in her chair.

Dick swallowed and turned to Percy for help. The boy was looking at him curiously but stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go, we can talk," he said, pulling Dick out of the meeting room all of a sudden and toward the beach. They walked silently over the dunes, Percy's hand never leaving Dick's shoulder. They sat down on the beach, watching the water lap over the sand.

"You can do this," Percy said, finally leaning back onto his elbows. Dick didn't look at him, and kept his eyes focused on the horizon. There were clouds lining their area of the camp, keeping the sun off of them even though the sky above was perfectly clear.

Dick closed his eyes. "I'm not… a leader. I've tried."

Percy kind of shrugged— not in a way to dismiss what Dick was saying. "Not being able to organize a group project is different than leading a quest."

"You don't think I know that?" he asked, swallowing the truth that wanted to bubble up his throat. "People's lives are at stake. The world is at stake. I can deal with that. I can't deal with being in charge of it all." He hadn't even admitted this to Bruce; he had barely admitted it to Black Canary.

"I wasn't ready to lead my first quest, not really. It should've been Annabeth, who'd been here for seven years and was unfairly waiting for the person to finally free her or whatever," Percy sounded a little bitter. It wasn't toward Annabeth, Dick doubted Percy could ever muster that feeling towards her, but it seemed to be about the quest itself.

"What happened?" he asked, voice small.

"Someone stole Zeus's lightning bolt. I was accused, and even if I didn't do it, I had to go get it as like a peace offering. It was Ares, actually, trying to start a war. But it was Kronos… and an old friend, who influenced him," Percy explained, moving his feet up and down through the sand. Dick still wasn't looking at him.

"That's pretty serious," Dick said. "Kronos… isn't he like—."

"Technically, our grandfather. The Titan of Time. We defeated him in the Battle for New York," Percy said. Dick finally looked over to find Percy staring at his own feet, still messing in the sand. He noted the use of the word 'we', and Dick knew enough that Percy was considered the hero of the Battle of New York and the Titan War but it seemed that the boy, man?, didn't want the credit.

"Will you… go with me?" Dick asked quietly, looking up at him. "On the quest. Will you help?"

"Yes," Percy said instantly, "I'll help."

Dick's shoulder fell and let he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in him. He couldn't do this alone. He couldn't do a solo mission. He needed a team, however small. "And Annabeth?"

"You'll have to ask her," Percy said slowly, "but I'm sure she'd love to help."

Dick grinned. "Cool." Bruce's words played in his head. "I uh," he drew the Robin 'R' in the sand and then swept it away. "I gotta tell you something."

Percy looked over at him quizzically, only raising an eyebrow. His eyes were expressionless, but Dick could see unbridled curiosity.

"You know my name… and that Bruce Wayne is my guardian, my dad," Dick said slowly, choosing his words. "Um, I guess. I'm Robin."

Percy didn't say anything. "What?"

"I'm Robin," Dick said hurriedly, "Like as in Batman and Robin. I'm Robin."

"You're Robin," Percy said hollowly, "A hero. Robin."

Dick suddenly feels the need to defend himself and he feels his words rushing out of his mouth before he can really comprehend them. "I didn't mean to lie or keep it a secret but Batman has always stressed keeping our identities secret! And I needed to respect that but then he asked if I trusted you and I do and I figured you should know the truth because it would be fair and you've all been so nice to me and you're my brother and—."

"Dick," Percy said.

Dick's mouth snapped shut, his shoulders dropping. He played with the sand with his hands, picking it up and letting it run through his fist.

"It's okay… it's a lot better than I thought. I thought you were a spy for Prometheus," Percy admitted, his voice soft.

"Oh," Dick said, "A mole."

Percy quirked a little at the term but shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time. But… Batman and Robin. Wow."

Dick smiled a little, "Yeah. It's pretty asterous."

Percy actually a laughed. "Robin. I mean. Wow. That explains your training. I knew you were holding back."

"I've never worked with swords before but I suddenly really want to. It's just… so cool!" Dick said, bouncing a little in the sand.

"We still have to find you one!" Percy said, grinning too. "But tell me… what do you do as Robin?"

Dick paused. "Patrol. We go around Gotham. Petty criminals, detective work, computer stuff. Um. There's the Joker and Two Face," he winced. "It's… hard. And a lot of work and training. I'm a hero though. I save people. I do good things. It feels right."

"That's good," Percy said, putting another comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I should call Bruce that I'll be… going on this quest, I think. Or Wonder Woman."

There's a pause. "You know Wonder Woman?"

"Yeah, she's kinda dating B."

Percy just shook his head. "I think your life might be weirder than mine."

Dick laughed. They kept to the beach for a long while, enjoying each other's company.

* * *

Dick stood in front of the fountain, holding another drachma. He flipped it in his fingers despite the size, biting his lip as he debated who he should call. Diana or Bruce. If we was lucky, maybe he would catch them together.

…

On second thought, maybe not. He probably didn't want to catch them together at all.

He shuddered at the mental image. Bruce might not know what to tell him, it was likely that he would either tell Dick to stay put or just tell him to go and he'd somehow find a way to help. Dick's newfound freedom from the Bat was great, it was something that Dick had been looking for, but it was probably only short lived. Bruce could only handle not being in control of something for so long, Dick included. Dick wanted this to last as long as he could.

So, Diana.

Dick flipped the coin into the mist. "Oh, Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Diana Prince at… um…," Dick didn't finish before the rainbow shimmered and Diana suddenly appeared lounging in the Watchtower's main control center. She was playing with her sword, flipping it in the air and then catching it with her opposite hand.

"Um, Diana?"

She didn't even jump, she just turned lazily to find Dick in a rainbow mist. She did stop swinging her sword in the air, smiling at his image. "Richard! It is good to hear from you! How is camp?"

"It's good," he said, "I met Percy and Chiron and everyone is so nice. I've been training. But I actually wanted to talk to you about… my quest."

She sat up fully, spinning the chair to face him. She leans one elbow on her knee, resting her chin on her hand. Her face is hardened and she's ready to hear whatever it is he has to say. He's always liked Diana because she didn't keep things from him and she always listens. Dick doesn't feel like a kid around her.

"My quest," he repeated, more for his sake, "A team of justice and ancient hero/ Combine and fight in a world divided/ A child of law, a bird of sorrow/ Against old and new they must fight to free/ Western shields and a goddess of preservation/ Hold ancient spells to forever be," he echoed the prophecy back to her, stuttering over the words about the bird of sorrow.

She leaned back in the seat. "A team of Justice could mean the league. Or the team."

"That's what I thought too," Dick said, puffing out his chest a little. "Ancient hero?"

"The demigods," Diana said, nodding. "A world divided… I'm not sure. A child of law?"

Dick shrugged. "Still not sure. But… I think I'm the bird of sorrow, teaming up with the child of law. Old and New…"

"That is unclear as well, as is the ancient spells to forever be," Diana said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I believe… a goddess of preservation could be another word for protection."

"We think we have to go west to find Soteria, but how the team fits in or the other things we're not sure about yet. Not that they know about the team," Dick said truthfully.

"Thank you, Richard, for being honest. We're already looking into the lab you asked us too. We'll keep you updated," she said. "J'onn is coming. I'll talk to you, Robin." She swept her hand through the mist.

Dick sighed. He had a quest to prepare for.

* * *

 ** _To be continued..._**


	10. The City

**AN. A couple of you commented on the really crappy prophecy. You're right, it doesn't have the usual pattern and it did seem forced. I'm a terrible poet (and that's essentially what the prophecy is). If anyone wants to touch bases and maybe we can come up with a better one that still has the same meanings but flows easier to replace it with that would be great. I took a Creative Writing class my senior year of high school at a local college and the professor straight up was like... lol, maybe you should just stick to prose. So. Here I am. Enjoy this chapter, sorry it took so long!**

* * *

Bruce stared as the drops hit the windshield of his car, looking out into the streets of Gotham, lit up by green and red and the echoing with the sounds of honks and water hitting glass. Everything dripped around him, falling together to melt into a giant puddle. The car behind him beeped loudly and it slowly registered that the light had turned green just a moment ago. He waved his hand in the mirror but it was too dark out already for the man to see it, Bruce peeled forward and slowly they were finally moving out of the skyscrapers and toward the suburbs and the west where the Palisades would be.

He was still waiting to hear back from the investigation with the Lab that Dick had found in his dreams, still looking for the numbers he'd seen. Bruce had a sinking feeling they'd be dealing with Cadmus again, but what for was the question?

Clones? Could you even clone something that didn't have DNA?

He wondered what would have happened if Dick had been cloned that day when they discovered Superboy. He didn't have a full DNA strand (something Barry was still marveling over in the League's lab), and thus they wouldn't have anything to clone with. They could've combined it with something else to stabilize it, much like they had with Superboy, but then the clone might've just looked like Dick, but been entirely human.

He hadn't quite wrapped his head around that. Human. Dick Grayson was not entirely human— he wasn't half-alien, or even a meta, he was half-god. A living example and proof that Greek Mythology was not full of myths, that they were still around and kicking. And it was killing Bruce he couldn't help his son, his kid. He knew Diana was right, he needed to support Dick, but he desperately wanted to find that camp and drag the boy back to the cave, lecturing him on the importance of not dying.

Maybe Dick pulling away was hurting more than he assumed because he didn't know what he was doing. He couldn't say no to this or yes to that and couldn't tell the boy that no, Dick, you shouldn't have taken that risky move because you could've died. Dick brushed him off a lot more when it came to things like that; the kid was smart, so incredibly smart, but he would take calculated risks that he didn't need to. There were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. Why couldn't Dick just see that?

Bruce turned down 5th Street and gripped the wheel harder. The rain was coming down even harder, still in big fat drops and slopped against the windshield and hit his vision harshly.

His phone beeped loudly, startling him. He reached over to pick it up, shuffling around his work bag and keeping his eyes on the road. He almost his a small silver car parked to his right, a small, grim but embarrassed smile settling over his face. Finally, he found his phone, opening it to find a text from Diana. It was code, clearly, but the sign was clearly for meeting at the Watchtower. Bruce sighed, but it was out of relief. Good. Something he could worry about.

* * *

 **The Watchtower**

 **Above Earth**

The Watchtower meeting rooms were filled with the large conference area and smaller meeting rooms that were soundproofed and with closed door. Not all the League's identities were open with others in the League, and if personal began to bleed with League business, they needed a space where they couldn't be heard by civilians but other heroes. Batman slipped into the room, finding not only Diana, but Barry, Clark, Dinah and Oliver. They were maskless, and Bruce slowly slipped his off to look at the others.

"What's this about?" he snapped.

Barry held his hands up. "Slow down, cowboy. Princess over here has been in contact with your kid."

His eyes snapped to Diana. She was biting her lip, arms crossed over her chest. She was leaning against the table, which had been pushed up beneath a clear board to write on. Barry had doodled a small Bat and a little Robin with the words 'Defend!' written over top in bubble letters. Bruce had half a mind to roll his eyes.

"Dick Iris-messaged me—."

Barry raised his hand. "I'd just like to say that is really cool and we need to utilize that now—."

"Barry!" they snapped in unison. The speedster sniffed, but he was grinning, and he lowered his hand and gestured for Diana to continue.

She scowled, but not seriously, in his direction. "Dick messaged me that he's received a quest to help deal with whatever is coming. He needs to head West to find the goddess of protection, Soteria. She'll be able to grant them… something that can help earth from this threat, whatever it is."

There's a ringing silence, and Bruce has turned slightly away. Dick is just going as a mission, he snapped to himself, he's just going on a solo-mission that's extremely detrimental to the Earth. But Dick wasn't going as Robin, he was going as Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson, who was the son of Poseidon and was going on a quest to save them all. Bruce wishes he could be there, wishes it could be him who was giving Dick this mission because he would know facts and figures and he'd know exactly what was going on and what Dick was getting into. But he doesn't. He can't control this.

It's killing him.

"A quest," Clark says, "like a good ole' let's journey together and defeat this evil type of quest."

Diana kind of shrugs helplessly. She's not even in her Wonder Woman gear, her hair is pulled up in a bun and she's wearing whatever she had worn to work that day. "If you think about it, that's what we do every mission we have."

"We have more information, and we're not just relying on some… what? Who even gives these things out? We have facts and we know names and people, not general locations and maybe a name. Head west? To where! They're going to transverse all of the West coast just to find this goddess? Why can't she go to them, or just give it to us?" Clark asked, sticking his hands on his hips and looking over at all of them over his glasses. Barry nods thoughtfully, and the only two who haven't said anything are Dinah and Ollie.

Bruce can feel their stares on him, but he ignores it to turn to Diana because she's the best connection to all of this they have.

She seems to juggle her thoughts, choosing her words carefully as she speaks. "Certain things must come to pass, Clark. And sometimes… these things require sacrifice and the need to know that whomever is searching for it is worthy. I don't doubt that Dick is worthy, we all know he is, but imagine if the enemy was looking for it too. If they had the ultimate symbol of protection, something that even we, even the gods, could not break through."

Clark is silent and he turns to Bruce as if to say "fix this!" But Bruce is still quiet, mulling over the information.

"We work on our end, Dick work's on theirs. Normally, I'd say Robin comes first, but he deserves to get himself established and trained as a demigod. After that, we can work something out but for now he needs to deal with this and be our middle-man. Clearly, Prometheus or whomever has made dealings with… civilians. They need protection too. Dick will deal with the demigod side, this quest, and we'll deal with the civilian side," he said, thinking about how earlier he just wanted Dick back. But the boy wasn't here, and he couldn't speak up for himself. It wouldn't do Bruce any good to make decisions for him as if he were here. That'd already been a problem in the past.

"Dick should just come back to the team," Oliver said, "the kids are down an extremely important member."

"You don't think I know that?" Bruce asked, furrowing his brow at Oliver. "He knows that too, but he needs to deal with this first. After this has all passed over we'll deal with Robin and the team." He paused. "We should get looking into that hand-held Zeta portal we began several months ago."

There's a murmur of agreement.

"Family has always been important to Dick," Bruce said quietly, "I'm letting him have this one."

Diana smiles gratefully at him, and Clark does as well. Barry still looks thoughtful, but he's nodding, and Dinah and Ollie doesn't say anything. They share a look, but it's so brief that Bruce barely notices it.

They reach their decision and moments later, Bruce leaves. He has a mission for the team.

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **2 Hours Later**

They have the audacity to argue with him. Which, in the long run, is pretty ballsy, because they'll get crap for it later but they're arguing they can't go on any missions because Robin, Dick isn't there, and if they're watching Cadmus, they're going to need his expertise. It's true, and they're right, but Bruce wouldn't have had them look into it if he didn't think they could handle it. In the end, they're only holding themselves back by limiting each of their positions on the team to what they think they can do. Sometime, Batman wonders if no guidance would be best— it is often times when there is no leadership that children step up. He thinks that maybe if Batman wasn't telling them they could do it, they'd end up to the same conclusion.

Maybe they need to be a little more hands off.

But right now is not that time, and he growls "Enough!" at them loudly enough to just shut them up and leave them slightly gaping at the same time. He doesn't normally raise his voice, so they're all just somewhat staring at him. "You will take this mission. This is strictly watch and report. You do not need Robin for this, I hope you all can handle sitting down for a couple of hours. You are not to engage, and you are to report all suspicious activity to myself and the League. Understood?"

They all nod solemnly.

"Batman, if I may," Aqualad said, "Does this have to do with Robin's own mission?"

He's more or less likely referring to Dick being at camp, but thankfully is still using the cover they'd established. Currently, Robin was undercover to most of the league. He debates on how truthful he should be. "We're investigating the connections that Wonder Woman has established for us," he said, only giving Aqualad a slight nod.

Satisfied, the Atlantean steps away. Batman knows that Dinah has been more open with them about what was going on the Robin, with Dick, and he's a little grateful. They've been more or less understanding, and they've kept quiet about most of it. "You'll leave in an hour. Be ready."

He turns away, his cape sweeping out behind him, and leaves them there.

* * *

 **Camp Half-Blood**

 **The Next Morning**

 **0800 Hours EST**

Dick had already grabbed his backpack from his cave and is swimming up to the beach. They leave on their quest this morning, early, before most of the camp is even awake. He walks up through the water, playing with it a little to make small waves. He tromps through the dunes, practically bouncing with excitement. He hasn't been able to leave the camp in the entire month or so he's been there, and he's ready to get out. It's not that he doesn't like it here, it's just that Camp Half-blood isn't home and Dick wants to go back to the manor and be Robin but he has this responsibility too.

He wonders about his mom, too. Not in the sad way, and he still thinks about his parents, but it didn't drive him like Bruce's parents drove his. He wonders about them too, about Thomas and Martha Wayne and he wonders if they too wish their son, not the adult Bruce, but the small Bruce, the little one who watched them, could let them go. Dick doesn't want to let his parents go, but he's watched Bruce and that consuming need for revenge doesn't fill him. He wants to protect people, not destroy every villain he can. So Dick feels good doing all this, he feels like this is his responsibility that really, he didn't choose, but there's a lot of things in his life he didn't choose that he's had to learn to live with.

Like, you know, living. But no one chooses that; they're in the same boat (Ha!) and Dick thinks about what his mom would say about who his dad, his biological dad, is. He can't imagine it, but the amount of puns he's come up with are pretty clever that he'll keep them around for later.

He bounded back to the cabin, a grin escaping and a small cackle rising from his throat. He throws the door open and Percy, who was putting on his second pant leg, scrambles for his sword while falling back.

"Nice!" Dick exclaimed, grinning madly. Percy groaned and rolled over.

"Hilarious," but he was smiling too. The older boy pulled himself from the ground and slipped his pants back on, muttering something about annoying younger brothers. Dick found his grin stretching even bigger and he went over to his bed to set his backpack on it.

"Do you think we can go to Wayne Manor and grab more clothes for me? And…" Dick stopped suddenly and let out a small "I'm an idiot". His hands dropped what he was holding and he turned to face Percy, running his hands through his hair. "I'm an idiot," he said louder. "The sword."

Percy froze too, looking around him and then back at Dick, frowning. He was halfway through sticking some socks into his back, but stopped what he was doing and froze. "What's wrong? What sword?"

"The sword… at the manor. When the Echidna attacked me, I grabbed one of Thomas Wayne's swords off the wall. It was the only actual weapon I could find. And it killed her, or like, made her into that puff of smoke," Dick paused. "It has to have celestial bronze in it or something and it was a good sword, I remember, it worked well. I completely forgot about it until I remembered what I wanted to get at home…" Dick looked up at his brother, who was looking at Dick thoughtfully, eyes narrowed.

"We can go. It'll be a brief detour. North, and then West. But we can't spend more time than necessary there," Percy said, "And we'll need to be in and out. No stops unless we have to."

"Roger that, sir!" Dick said, saluting. He still felt like an idiot because that sword had been sitting right in front of him. He wondered how Thomas Wayne had come across it, and how he'd even been able to see it— did he have the sight? But then, what had Bruce seen when he looked at it? Or Alfred? Dick had never quite noticed it before, he'd just known there was a sword there. And he never would've been able to describe to you what it looked like, and he still couldn't; not really.

Dick turned back to his back, opening it to find his Robin uniform staring up at him. He pulled it out halfway, running his thumb over the R. He wasn't going on this mission as Robin— he was Dick Grayson, son of Mary Grayson and Poseidon, and he was going on a quest to find the goddess of protection to save the world from something. He slowly packed the uniform back in and grabbed some more clothes, carefully folding them in. He imagined Alfred was standing over his shoulders, telling him he'd have more space if he folded, and laughed quietly to himself.

Percy came up behind him. "Almost ready?"

Dick looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I'm ready."

They left the cabin, Percy shutting the door slowly behind him. They walked quietly to the Big House, the light from the rising soon just falling over the cabins and over the trees. The other side of the sky was still dark and Dick watched the clouds drift in front of the moon. He felt like it was watching him and turned his eyes, a slight shiver running up his spine.

Dick was ready, practically bouncing as they ascended the steps of the house to meet with Chiron and with Annabeth. They were all standing on the porch, waiting for Percy and Dick to arrive. Jason and Piper were there, too. Piper ruffled Dick's hair and smiled at him.

"You're goal to head West, towards Soteria's sphere of power. Washington state, the closest you can get to the edge of the gods realm aside from Canada. I have a feeling she'll more come to you," Chiron explained, looking at all of them. "You're looking for her blessing, presumably."

Annabeth nodded seriously, and Percy nodded as well, glancing down at his brother. This rested on Dick, it was his quest. But Percy knew that Dick could handle it— he was Robin. Dick was focused now, though, and staring at Chiron seriously. He could see the grown part of the thirteen year old, the part that was far too old to see what he had in thirteen years.

"We'll be safe," Dick promised, his voice serious. "And we'll get her blessing."

Chiron nodded, looking down at all of them. "We are working to solve this all. We cannot let whatever war Prometheus wants to begin to happen."

"Understood," Dick said. Piper pulled the boy closer to her suddenly.

"Be safe kiddo! Keep Percy and Annabeth out of trouble!" She hugged him fiercely, pulling him closer to herself. Dick squirmed a little, surprised but not entirely unperturbed. He wasn't used to getting out on missions this way. But Piper reminded him a little of M'gann, separate but still kind individuals in his life, and he found a little comfort in his hug. Piper let go and patted his dark hair, urging him to follow the two older Demigods.

"Argus will drive you to the city and drop you off at the station to take a train. You have some Drachmas?"

Dick nodded, patting his bag. "Percy gave me some."

Chiron smiled grimly. "Then you're set."

And they were. Argus, with his many eyes, led them down to the Camps only van. They piled in, quietly listening to Apollo's station (Americana Folk that week; bearable), and the green country of Long Island soon became beige highways that became a glass city. Annabeth watched all the buildings pass by and Dick stared at the Wayne Inc. building until it disappeared behind tall reaching towers. Percy remained stoically silent, watching a small marble roll around the back of the truck.

Dick had been to New York more times in his life than they could count, the US tour that Haley's took meant New York was twice on the map, only being exceeded by Gotham's four visits a year. He knew the streets decently well and he knew the tops of the buildings just a little better from cases he and Batman had worked. He didn't know really what to do now— they needed to go to the station, yeah, but Gotham was still an hour by train and they needed to get there fast. And Annabeth still had no clue what the exact plan was other than a small brief discussion at the beginning of their ride from the camp. Dick kept still, eyes focused on the buildings around, looking for threats and exit routes. Argus never spoke and when they arrived at Grand Central Station, he only looked back at him over his shoulder.

Dick glanced at the other two, who were gathering their single bags. "Right," he muttered, "Thanks, Argus."

Argus held up his hand, giving Dick a thumbs up. The eye on his hand blinked. Or winked. Dick wasn't sure.

The back of the car was swung open, the light flooding into the back of the van, and they hopped out into the busy New York morning. Sounds hit his ears; cars and people, shuffling fabric and shoes on concrete. It had rained, clearly, the night before and the puddles of water reflected the clear morning sky above. Annabeth shut the door and slapped the back and the van peeled away from the street and into the traffic. Dick looked up at the train station, the sign greeting him in almost mock excitement, and he gulped.

They were on their own. And somehow this was worse than any mission he had been on.

"Well," he said, and turned to face Annabeth. She looked down at him, eyebrow quirked in question. "We have to go to Gotham?"

"Do we?" she asked, glancing at Percy.

"There's a sword there."

"You just… casually have had a sword at your home that can kill monsters this entire time?"

Dick blinked. "I kind of… yeah. I do. We have to get it." He held up his dagger, although a little stealthily as to avoid any worry, and waved it a little at her. "This isn't gonna work."

"Piper said you were really good at the dagger?" Annabeth said, actually pouting a little. Dick knew she used her dagger religiously and was probably one of the best warriors he knew.

"It's just not my first choice," he explained, "And I could… the sword would be better. It's what I used to kill Echidna."

Annabeth looked away then, at Percy and then at the line of doors where the restless people walked in and out in a hurry, "I won't ask. Fine, let's head to Gotham and get this sword. Then we head West."

Dick grinned, throwing his fist into the air, and led them both to the doors of the station. He took care of the tickets, insisting they wait, and he knew that Alfred would see the charge and hopefully prepare for his arrival. Or at least expect it. He met the two of them sitting, waiting, for the New York to Gotham line to leave. Percy was tossing a small hacky sack in the air, grinning at Annabeth. She was smiling too, a large white toothy grin that made Dick spread his lips wide and grin. They were laughing as they saw him coming, and he held their tickets up and waved.

Percy tossed him the sack and he caught it from the air, pulling it down to look at it. "We played hacky sack on our first quest. On a bus. But I think we should make it a tradition."

Dick grinned and they played with it. Annabeth was better than them both, doing all sorts of tricks. Dick pulled the hacky sack, an apple from Percy's bag, and then his own wallet and began to juggle all three. Electing not only a small crowed of young children, but also Percy and Annabeth's delighted attention, he eventually added two water bottles and even a book.

Annabeth glanced up as their train arrival was announced and they had to go through the process of ripping Dick away from the young children. They waved good bye and barely made it through the doors as it shut into a single car filled with a mother and daughter and tall man with a blonde ponytail standing some ways away in the back of the car.

"Yeah," Dick said, glancing at Percy and Annabeth's surprised faces to the lack of people in the train car. "Not a lot of people want to go to Gotham."

The ride went well in the beginning until the woman and her daughter got off some several stops after they'd gotten one. There was still a long way to Gotham, at least another forty five minutes, and they were left strangely staring at the man, each of them sizing him up in their own way. Dick gripped his dagger tightly, staring in a relaxed manner straight across from his seat out of the window. The suburbs became green fields and soon they were in New Jersey, heading Northeast toward the city. The man shuffled ever once in a while, sniffling, and perhaps the most suspicious thing about him was his lack of luggage.

Sure, they only have backpacks, but it was something. He didn't carry a single thing with him, arms crossed over his chest. When the train began to stop in the various less-harmless neighborhoods, the man crossed by them and left the car. When the doors finally closed, Dick let out a breath that he didn't even realize he was holding.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "That… was strange. Don't tell me I'm the only one who thought he was going to attack?"

Percy was still looking at the doors, even though they'd already peeled out of the station and were heading full throttle into the city. "I don't think we're quite done with him yet. Let's not leave out of those doors." He looked down the train car. "Out the back ones, in with the crowd. What's the last stop in Gotham?"

Dick hummed in thought. "Elwich Station, East side. It's by the docks. Always crowded."

"Then we get off then," Percy said. He paused. "Uh, if that's okay with you?"

Dick smiled, appreciating that Percy was acknowledging he shouldn't quite be making executive decisions like that, and nodded. "Good by me."

The train in Gotham wasn't unlike any other city. It was mostly above ground and was probably the nicest thing actually in the city outside of Sandset Park on the North side. It weaved throughout the city and the stations were elevated above ground, lined with semi-dry shrubs from the heat. Occasionally it dove beneath the ground, and there was nothing like watching a train at a 45 degree angle whoosh by and disappear into concrete. Their train, from New York, only went so far in. It wasn't local, and so they leapt out and quickly switched at the large main central hub, named aptly after Thomas Wayne, and were then well on their way to Elwich station some middle of the morning. The train was packed with dock and shipyard worker going in for the morning to afternoon shift. The looked a little out of place, but kids traveling or moving around on the Gotham trains weren't unusual and they were ignored.

By the time they reached Elwich, the sun was up in the sky and it was almost noon. They loaded out with the workers and quickly disappeared into the incoming crowd, following Dick was he led them from the dingy station into a series of rowhomes that made up the other end of the east side of Gotham. Percy was actually a very good person to walk with. Dick wasn't very threatening, never would be probably, but Percy just had that street-kid look about him that neither he nor Annabeth could pull off.

"Should we take a taxi?" Annabeth asked.

"I was thinking I could have someone pick us up, taxi's in Gotham… especially in this side, are a little less than reliable," Dick said, glancing around before they crossed the street. The Palisades, the part where Wayne Manor and Gotham's old money was located, was Northwest of the city. Even walking, it'd take them the better part of the day to get back to the manor and given that this was an unwelcome detour, they needed it to be fast.

"If you're using a phone, we're screwed. Any monster will pick up that signal and with two kids of Poseidon… I'm surprised we haven't been caught yet," Annabeth said, glancing down at the black hair boy.

Dick bit his lip. "Okay, no phone… how about having someone else call?"

"Like a mortal?" Percy asked, scrunching his eyes at a large gargoyle leaning off the building they were standing under.

"Yeah! Like… hmmm, that guy." They followed where Dick was pointing toward a cop who was leaning against his car, watching some birds peck at his small chunks of doughnut on the streets.

"I'll take the phone call," Annabeth deadpanned.

"No, he's okay. He's one of the cops who, like, works with Batman and Robin and stuff!" Dick insisted, already making his way down the sidewalk. Percy started following immediately, Annabeth right behind him.

"Hey! Detective Bullock!"

The detective jumped, reaching immediately for his gun, before he scowled at the three kids walking toward him. "Ah, you know, I'm off on my lunch—."

"I just need help, sir!" Dick said, making his voice a lot smaller than it was. He seemed younger, more like the thirteen he was, and grinned up at the man shyly. "We don't have a phone to get back home, you know, and we don't have any money for a ticket or a taxi. Do you think you could call the house so someone could come pick us up?"

"Ehhhh….," Bullock sighed, scrunching his nose. "Pretty precarious situation you got yourself into there, didn't you?" He looked at all three of them, clearly suspicious, and then he shrugged. "Might as well happen. Alright, what's the number?"

Dick flashed him his best 'Richard Grayson' smile and said the numbers he'd had memorized since he was eight. Bullock sat there, squinting at a rusted window grate and with three kids who looked desperately out of place as the phone rang.

"Er, hi, this is Detective Harvey Bullock of the GCPD. Now I've come across a pretty peculiar situation. I've got your kids here, sir. They say they've got no money for a taxi, and no phones for a call. Mmhmm," he turned to Dick, "What's your name kid?"

"Richard," Dick said, beaming. He felt Annabeth shift in surprise behind him.

"Kids name is Richard. Mhmm. Okay, you'll pick them up?"

"34th and 5th, please," Dick stage-whispered, leaning forward comically.

Bullock echoed the numbers back into the phone, presumably to Alfred, and then laughed and hung up. "You sure you don't want me to just drive you? It'll be much safer," his eyes flickered to Annabeth, who, between Detective Bullock and herself, packed more muscle than he did in all his years of detective work.

"We'll be fine," she snapped, clearly following his train of thought. "Let's go." She practically dragged Dick and Percy down the street, kicking garbage and scowling the entire time. Dick sent Bullock one last wave before they disappeared behind another set of row homes.

"You're name is Richard?" she asked, looking down at him as they finally slowed down to a steady walk. They weren't bothered by most people and if you kept your gaze forward and looked more threatening than you were you would be okay.

"There's a lot," he admitted, "But yeah."

"Figures," she grumbled, but only gave Percy a passing glance as if to say she'd reprimand him later for not telling her. "Are we headed in the right direction? This place is like the labyrinth."

"You said 'the' Labyrinth instead of 'a' labyrinth and I'll totally have to ask about that later, but yeah, we're good. Just a couple more streets," he replied. 34th and 5th was the general pick up spot because it was easy to create a pattern out of 3, 4, and 5. If Dick-as-Robin were ever in trouble and needed Batman to get him and he was too far from Wayne Tower, he could use that as a code. Speech, breathing patterns, and sounds were easy to make exponential. It was a small corner, outside an old drug store and a shoe shine place. Generally, Robin would be on the roof. It was easy access and higher, so if he was injured he could stay above and watch out for unwelcome visitors.

But the roof carried over onto the sidewalk on the corner. When they finally arrived, the limo was already waiting for them. It was being eyed by several individuals, but a cop down the road kept them at bay. That, and the WAYNE license plate generally meant you didn't mess with it.

Dick pointed at the sleek black car. "That's our ride."

"You're kidding," Percy said, "wow."

Dick opened the door, sliding in. "Hey, Alfred— you're not Alfred." Immediately, before he'd even was fully in the car, Dick had his dagger out and pointed at the window. Instead of the familiar grey head, it was the blonde ponytail and the dark, tanned man with sunglasses on. He turned his head barely to the side and grinned slyly.

"I'd get in if you want to see Alfred. The British guy, right?" His grin was all wrong, too wide and with too pointed teeth.

Dick paused a moment, glancing back at Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth had her dagger out too, already moving around the vehicle and toward the driver's side. Percy had Riptide poised over the tires. They were waiting for him to make a decision, respecting his choice as leader. Dick stuttered, his mind faltering, before he steeled himself and let out a deep breath. "Where is he?"

"In ya home, Mr. Grayson," Ponytail replied. "And I suggest getting in if you want. You see, we weren't quite expecting you but that lovely call brought us right to your position. You would've outsmarted the system by using that useless mortal of a cop if he hadn't rang our location."

Dick silently cursed in Romani and then glanced back, jerking his head to the door. "We have to go," he said, the hero part of him taking over. Alfred was in danger and Bruce was out on League business, off world, and so Dick couldn't just leave Alfred without any help. The two demigods, clearly unhappy with the turn of events but compliant, slid in behind him. Ponytail peeled out into the street and the ride was quiet. Instead of zooming by on the train, they had a slow and steady look at the city. It had taken a long time to see Gotham as his home, and it had been weeks since he'd seen the city.

He missed it, and some part of him wished he could be on the rooftops again. He shook the feeling of nostalgia away as they drove into the more suburban parts of the city, the Palisades grand entrance up the street greeting him almost mockingly. He could feel the strange sort of confusion mixed with awe as they drove past large mansions and manors. Wayne Manor, arguably the most ostentatious and the largest, was the furthest away. It sat on a hill, still open to the city where, if you looked out of the south windows, you'd see the large row homes barely hidden by the trees. But it took the longest to get to from the entrance of the neighborhood.

They drove up to the gate, WM emblazed in gold on the iron metal, and it slowly opened to allow the limo to go through.

"You live here?" Annabeth asked, her voice low.

"There's… a lot."

"You said that before."

"We can trust him," Percy insisted.

"I know that," Annabeth said, "I'm just surprised. Most demigods… this is a dream."

Dick couldn't help but feel a little upset at that, but Annabeth didn't know the full story and she didn't know what it had taken for him to come live here. "It wasn't a dream," he said quietly, his voice a little snappish. "Not what it took at all."

Before she could reply, the door was opened and Ponytail was gesturing for them to come out. The door to the manor was open and it was dark, the lights out, in the grand hall. The foyer, immaculately kept often at all times of the year, looked as spooky as it had on the day Dick had first arrived. The manor loomed over him and suddenly it didn't feel like, home. It was threatening and vicious. He scowled up at it.

"This way," Ponytail said, leading them through the manor.

"You work for Prometheus?" Percy asked, looking around at the large paintings and expensive furniture and items.

"I do," Ponytail answered, his voice gravely. His teeth, still sharp and pointy, obstructed his tongue to pronounce the words carefully. He spoke with a slight lisp, a forked tongue flickering in irritation every once in a while.

They arrived in the library, a place that Dick was very familiar with, but the inside was still dark and eerie. The only light come from one open set of curtains, carefully tied back with red ribbons. Dick stared at an eerie womanly figure dressed in ancient Grecian clothing, her curled hair lying flatly on her scalp and face. She was sitting at the one desk, strange wispy blue eyes staring at them.

"They are not Machates," she scowled, speaking in some strange mix of Greek and English. It took Dick a moment to translate. Machates?

"No," Ponytail replied, "they are the demigods who are trying to stop Prometheus."

The girl, barely older than maybe Percy or Annabeth, huffed and her strange ghostly form flickered. Was she dead? Or was she just another strange monster.

"I don't care about Prometheus, I want Machates," she insisted, finally settling on English.

"Prometheus brought you back—."

"I want Machates! The old man was not Machates! These three are not Machates! If I turn them in to Prometheus, will he give me Machates?"

"I know where Machates is!" Dick said. The ghost-girl shifted around and suddenly appeared in front of him, eyes wide and hair stringy across her face as if she'd been sweating a lot before she died.

"Where?" she whispered. "I was interrupted last time. I want him."

"He's in the manor," Dick lied easily, "but I won't tell you unless you let me see Alfred."

"You are in no position—."

"Deal," the ghost said, "Bring him forth!"

Ponytail grumbled something and disappeared out the door.

The ghost, now much cheerful than before, fell back on one of the couches. Dick, Percy, and Annabeth stood there. Annabeth was looking the ghost over and over, as if trying to figure out what Myth she was from. Or perhaps trying to figure out for what reason Prometheus brought her back. Dick knew that it wasn't just Ponytail and Ghost-girl, it was likely that the manor was teeming with other monsters if they were meant to wait here to capture him. He doesn't imagine Prometheus thought she would be so single minded.

He looked around the library, panic bubbling up within him when he realized the sword wasn't there. Maybe it was still in the cave? Or maybe Bruce moved it somewhere else.

"He said he had Machates," she said suddenly, "but he lied! Forethought lied! You have Machates." She grinned at them, white teeth crooked and uneven. She was still beautiful and Dick found himself staring into her wispy eyes, entranced almost. It was only broken by the sound of footsteps and Alfred and Ponytail were suddenly in the room. Alfred looked a little disheveled, and his arms and mouth were bound by more red ribbon.

"Alfred," Dick whispered.

The Butler, the man like a second grandfather, seemed relieved to see him as well but his eyes flickered to the ghost. She's risen from the couch.

"Bind the others and set this one to get Machates. You have until Apollo's ride is finished to return him to me," she said, practically shooing him from the room as if he were a small, annoying child. The door was shut abruptly behind him, and Dick was suddenly alone in the hall.

"Not whelming," he muttered, looking around the hall. At least he knew Alfred was okay. The first thing to do would be check the study, Bruce's study, in case the sword had been moved there. Then maybe the cave? But neither Bruce nor Alfred would have let the sword remained where he'd dropped it in his fight with the Echidna. He shook his head, walking down the hall to the study. The manor, still eerily dark, seemed to stretch on forever in a way it hadn't in years. It was massive, with five floors of large wooden corridors and locked and empty rooms.

The door to Bruce's study was unlocked, as it usually was when he wasn't working. And Dick slipped open the door and went inside, looking around. The room's windows were open and light flooded the room. He blinked at the sudden brightness, glancing around. No sword.

Damn.

He shut the door behind him.

Slowly ascending one of the smaller staircases meant for quick access that spiraled up through all the floors, he found himself on the second level of the house. This was technically where all the guest rooms were, as well as the second library and the second parlor and music room. Neither Dick nor Bruce were musically inclined, although Dick had a decent voice, and so most of the rooms like the small observatory that looked over the woods and gardens behind the house and the music room were covered in white sheets. He glanced only briefly though there, scowling at the lack of sword but understanding that there was no reason for it to be in those rooms at all.

The next stop was the upstairs, the third floor, where the actual living rooms were. Bruce's room and his parents old room was there, as well as Dick's room. Maybe Bruce had stuck it there, as a memento. Worse came worse and it was in the attic along with the other swords. Dick tiptoed along the area carpet that ran down the hallway, surprised at the lack of monsters but also extremely suspicious. He held his dagger in his hand, ready to fight, and his other hand was curled into a fist. The door to his room was closed, but the light coming from the bottom indicated that it wasn't dark like the rest of the manor.

There was a shadow of someone's feet in the door, blocking the light.

Dick gripped his dagger tighter and gently laid his hand on the iron knob. He let out one breath and then swung the door open, swing his dagger forward. It passed straight through the figure's torso and suddenly he had to jump back, flipping to the side, to avoid a textbook flying toward his head.

"Dick?"

He stared up at the figure. "Babs?"

Barbara Gordon stood in the door way, holding his AP World History textbook. She dropped her arms, the book falling next to her waist. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here!" he insisted, pulling himself to move his feet toward her. She pulled him inside his room, shutting the door softly behind them. "What are you doing here?"

Barbara bit her lip, pulling her arms around herself. "I… came last night, hoping to talk to you. You haven't answered any of my calls or texts in weeks and I was getting worried. I know you and Mr. Wayne produced some kind of story but you always tell me when something like happens. So I came here, but then there were these strange people and they'd taken Alfred and…" she paused to breath. "You weren't here, and neither was Mr. Wayne, so I hid before they could find me. People pass every once in a while, but they don't come in here. I was about to head down and see if I could help Alfred."

Dick stared at her in disbelief. "Does your dad know you're here?"

"I called and said I was spending the night," she admitted. "But now my phone doesn't work." She proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Where have you been?"

He didn't bother defending himself or block the attack. He deserved it. "I've been… dealing with some family things, actually."

That kept her next blow at bay, her blue eyes widening in astonishment. "Family? But I thought…"

"It's complicated," he replied, "seriously. And I promise I'll explain everything to you. But I have to set Alfred free and you need to get out of here!"

"No way!" the redhead insisted. "You have to let me help!"

"You don't know what you're up against!" he said, knowing that it would be futile. But Barbara couldn't see the monsters, she couldn't tell what they were.

She looked down at his dagger suddenly, her eyes growing weary. "Dick… why do you have a gun?"

"What?" he said, voice hollow. He looked down at his dagger. "It's… not a gun."

"Did you get messed up in something? Come on, Dick, you can tell me." She crossed her arms and glared at him, worry still etched on her features.

"It just looks like a gun," he found himself saying, "It can't hurt mortals."

"Mortals," she said dryly.

"Yeah like… you," he said. "It… it's so complicated Babs."

"Then, I don't know, uncomplicate it!"

Dick bit his lip and looked away, right at the sword that was leaning against his desk. He stopped and froze, staring at it in disbelief. "How long has that been there?"

Barbara turned and followed his gaze. "The sword?"

"Oh… you can see it?"

She didn't say anything, turning around the glare at him.

"Right, you can see the sword. How long has it been there?" And why couldn't she see his dagger? If she could see the sword, she should be able to see the dagger. There was something off here, but he couldn't tell what.

"Um, I don't know, I didn't really notice it before now," Barbara replied with a frown. "How did I not notice that?" she whispered to herself.

Dick shook his head, stalking past her toward the sword. It leaned against the desk and he finally got a good look at it. The hilt was brown and wrapped in gold, with a circle medallion type of gold piece at it's top. The cross guard was curved outward toward the blade, which looked to be made of steel with a gold fuller in its center. There were strange letters in the center, perhaps an older version of Greek or maybe something far more mystical. Dick wonders how he never noticed it before that day with the Echidna, it looks far too… extraordinary for it to just have simply been part of Thomas Wayne's collection.

He reached forward to touch the hilt, his fingers barely brushing it before his vision was engulfed with darkness.

* * *

He woke up standing in an ancient castle. Before him, facing away, was a single throne. The room was empty, the stone dark and the only light some through narrow slits in the walls. It was dirty and dusty and smelled like no one had been there in a great deal of time. Dick felt himself walking forward, around the throne. In it was seat an old man, greatly withered away by the elements. In his hand, he held a trident, and on his head was a simply band of gold.

The man opened his mouth to speak, his voice forming words that Dick didn't understand.

"I'm sorry," Dick whispered, "I don't speak..."

"Destiny… is… yours," the man said, "Take… it… up."

Dick felt panic seize him. "Take what up? What destiny?"

He looked down at the trident clenched in the weathered, leathery fingers of the man. "Is this a message from my father?"

"Take… it… up," the man repeated, lifting his trident just a little bit. He leaned forward, reaching the trident to touch Dick's forehead. "Take it…—."

"—up! Wake up, Dick!"

Dick's eyes flew open to find Barbara leaning over him, her face scrunched up with worry. He shot up, blinking. "What happened?"

"You touched the sword and passed out. You had it in a death grip, I couldn't get it out of your hands," she said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine I just…" he looked down at his left hand. His dagger had fallen into the floorboards, sticking straight up, and in his hand he held a small vile of water. "Had a strange dream…" he whispered.

Barbara followed his gaze. "A dream? You didn't have that…"

"Before, I think it was less of a dream and more of… something. I don't know." He picked himself off the ground and shook his head, holding his new sword in his hands. It felt perfect in his grip, well balanced and a good length. It wasn't like the other Greek swords, a Xiphos, or even the Roman sword he'd heard about from Jason's descriptions. It was long and flat, double edged. "We still have to rescue Alfred and my friends," he said. "What time is it?"

"Almost sunset," she said dryly.

He jumped. "What? How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours. Dick, I couldn't wake you up. And with those people patrolling the manor I can't get help or get water or anything…" she seemed sorry.

Dick frowned. "When I was walking, I didn't see anyone… how is it that there are just people moving around that I missed?"

"You never did tell me why you were here," Barbara said. "I don't know what's going on Richard Grayson. You need to tell me if we're going to get out of here."

Dick blinked. "You're right, Babs. I'm sorry. We need to save Alfred and my friends first. You want to help right?"

She nodded, eyes focused on his face. Dick grinned. "Ever heard of Machates?"

 ** _To be continued..._**


	11. The Humming

**Wayne Manor**

 **2100 Hours**

* * *

Dick and Barbara crept down the creaky back stairs of the house. It was one of the doors hidden behind a panel in the wall on the top floor of the manor. It was the floor designated for storage, by Bruce and Alfred, with plenty of small extra rooms and with no one living there. It also wasn't being patrolled and Dick was able to access it from the small crawlspace in his room behind a large dresser that led between the walls and went up. So, they went up, and then down, and were now headed towards the library as quietly as possible.

Dick had his sword strapped to his back, and Barbara was carrying a fire spoke from one of the sitting rooms they passed. He also had half a mind to grab his dad's leather jacket, grasping it tightly before thinking better and leaving it hanging on the desk chair. Barbara was dressed in his school uniform, although the pants were a little too tight apparently, and she had her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Finally on the first floor, Dick led Barbara to the door.

He glanced over at her. "Ready?"

She hefted the spoke up and grinned. "I'm ready."

He grabbed the handles of the door and flung them open. "I have Machates!" he announced, looking into the room for the first time in hours. Percy and Annabeth were still standing quietly there, though clearly not happy about it. Alfred was with them, and he still looked worn and tired, and seemed to have convinced the ghost-woman and Pony-tail to let him sit down. Dick reached back to grab Barbara, pulling her forward.

The ghost woman leapt toward them, stopping so she was several inches away from their faces. Her loose, greasy hair swung into her face and her eyes had no pupils. She looked frightening but Dick steeled himself and looked into her eyes. He felt a wooziness overtake him and he wanted to keep staring into the grey. She leaned back suddenly and crossed her arms, looking like a pouty teenager. He shook his head, frowning.

"You say this is Machates?" she asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Dick blinked. "If you have to ask… you must not be that important."

The ghost girl scoffed. "You be quiet! I am about to tell a story. I am Philinnion. I have returned from the grave before to be reunited to Machates and I was interrupted then. Now, Forethought has brought me back and said he has Machates and will return him to me if I will bind all men. But he lied! Forethought lied!" she hissed, curling her hands into fists. Her hair seemed to get limper and Dick suddenly realized that she wasn't sweaty; she was wet, as if she'd been drowned, and her ghost form seemed to be reflecting her body. He wondered if there was a grave out there somewhere in Greece, hidden beneath roads and buildings, that was flooded with water and lifting the bones from their resting place.

Philinnion went on. Her hands seemed to elongate and something began to wrap up around her waist. Her clothes looked wet and soggy, dripping ghostly water onto the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Annabeth begin to work on Percy's binds. She must've freed them earlier in case something happened.

"And you!" she pointed a strange crooked finger at Dick. She was still beautiful, almost even more so. And Dick found he couldn't look away. He knew he needed to see what Annabeth was planning, but he couldn't make his neck turn away.

"You! You lied too! You've brought this disgraceful girl child into this house to trick me! I am not tricked! I am not a fool! I am Philinnion, brought forth by Death himself to serve Forethoughts plans!"

"Hey!" Barbara snapped. "You think I'm disgraceful? Look at yourself, serving some idiot who thought he could trick you!"

Philinnion jerked back, suddenly surprised by Barbara's outcry. "Are you saying I am the disgraceful one?"

"Well, duh," Babs cried out impatiently. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground. "I mean, did he come back from the grave twice for love?"

Philinnion frowned, tapped one sharpened finger against her chin. Ponytail was staring at Philinnion in shock. "No, he did not."

"Exactly!" Barbara said, "He didn't! So why are you serving him? What's he got on you?"

Philinnion actually looked stumped, pouting a little as she glared at the floor in thought. "He doesn't even have Machates."

"He lied to you, Philinnion. You deserve better than that," Barbara said. "You deserve better than a man who lies to you. I think, you know, personally, you should get rid of his ass and do your own thing. Look for Machates, sure, but experiment and have fun a little. This is the twenty-first century."

Philinnion seemed to be taking a moment to consider, her monstrous appearance fading the longer she seemed to think. Behind her, Ponytail had clearly had enough. He lunged forward at Barbara, and just before Dick could heft his sword up, Annabeth thrust herself forward and ripped her dagger into his arm. The monster exploded into gold dust as Barbara shrieked in surprise.

Dick scurried up over the expensive couch toward Philinnion, pulling his sword from his back strap made up from his backup school belt. He lunged toward the suddenly monstrous ghost, flipping over her gracefully and holding his sword out so it ran straight through her head. She exploded in a screech for help, the gold dust settling around them like feathers. Percy grabbed Alfred up.

"We need to get out of here," he said, "those monsters she had patrolling are going to be after us in a heartbeat."

Barbara was stilling staring at the gold dust horrified. Her hands were taunt and she kept grasping and ungrasping the hand that wasn't holding her fire spoke. "You killed her?"

Annabeth looked over at Dick sharply. "She's a mortal?"

He paused, struggling to stick his sword in his back strap. "Um, yes? She's a friend though. And Babs—."

Barbara's head snapped up to meet him from Philinnion's gold dust. "Richard John Grayson, what the actual hell is going on?"

"She's not dead," he said gently, wincing at the tone his friend took. "Well, not really. Well, okay, technically she was a ghost so she was kinda dead but no, she's not dead."

"I'm not following," Babs said.

"It's complicated," he sighed, exasperated. They couldn't waste time explaining every little thing. There was still a hoard of monsters beyond the door and they needed to get Barbara and Alfred to safety. The butler was still quiet, staring at Dick with a seriousness he often didn't hold.

Barbara threw up her hands. "Everything is complicated. You're not even bothering to try!"

"Miss Barbara," Alfred said, picking himself up and moving forward to place a hand on both their shoulders. Both of them looked up at him, Babs's furrowed angrily and Dick's looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than there. "I'm afraid there are forces here at work that we cannot explain. It will take time, and Master Dick needs to help… Miss Annabeth and Mr. Percy."

Barbara looked between all three of them. Her eyes finally landed on Dick's sword hilt that rose just above his shoulder. She frowned and turned her face away, looking to the ground. "I want to help. Whatever it is you're doing, I want to help."

"That's a terrible idea," Annabeth deadpanned.

Percy was looking between Barbara and Dick as if trying to figure out a way to mediate this. Dick, despite having only known his brother a short time, noted that Percy was incredibly good at getting people to work together when they didn't want to. He was good at making people understand, and existed as an adequate mediator between differentiating parties. In that case, the parties would be himself and Annabeth. The blonde demigod had her hands on her hips, her curled hair falling so loosely from her ponytail she might as well have just taken it out. Her lips were a thin line and she analyzed Barbara with narrowed, grey eyes.

Dick found it particularly ironic that Barbara was here. She'd manage to insert herself into their quest without even trying just because she was a good enough friend that she'd come to the manor just to figure out why he wasn't answering her calls. He certainly hadn't meant to ignore her, but he'd found that he'd probably ignored everyone and it wasn't like he hadn't thought about or missed them, it was that he was so preoccupied with everything else. He'd placed Robin and Gotham on the back-burner; that'd never been his intention.

A sudden though sprung to his head. "Babs, you can come."

Percy looked a little surprised. "She's not clear-sighted."

"She can see my sword," Dick replied honestly, touching it gingerly with his fingers. "That has to count and we can explain everything on the go."

Annabeth was shaking her head. "We can't, Dick, as much as I know you'd like to bring her. It's not that I don't think we can or should, but she can't see the monsters properly. She'd be more likely to get hurt than anything else."

Dick huffed. "Child of law, remember! Bab's dad is Commissioner Gordon of the GCPD. It's not really our choice?" He sounded too shaky as he asked that, trying to sound confident.

Annabeth and Percy hesitated, glancing at each other. Percy reached forward to gently touch his girlfriend's shoulder before she sighed and looked back up at them. Barbara had remained tastefully quiet, only glancing at the doors every now and then as if waiting for more monsters. They all were. Dick could hear things off in the manor, but they still hadn't come their way. Maybe they realized their leaders were gone and they'd scatter. Alfred still stood there, ever the stoic presence.

"The GCPD?" Percy asked quietly.

"Like, the whole operation," Babs said, "He sometimes works with Batman."

Percy glanced at Dick, who made a motion with his head to _not do that,_ and then at Barbara. "It's Dick's quest, so I'm leaving it up to him. Annabeth, you should too. I know you don't like it, and it's nothing personal I understand, but this isn't our job right now. If the prophecy says that Barbara is a part of this, then we don't really have a choice. Dick is right about that."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at Percy. She took out her dagger, spinning it around in her fingers before gripping it tightly at her hips. For a split second, Dick thought she was going to stab her boyfriend, but then her shoulders dropped and arms hung. "Fine. Fine. Dick is right about that. And you're being annoyingly wise and… logical."

"Maybe you should call me wiseboy now," Percy joked, a small smirk donning his face.

Annabeth shoved him lightly. "I think I'll stick to seaweed brain."

Barbara perked up, looking at Dick. She poked him with the fire spoke and grinned. "So, what is this quest?"

"You'll have to explain later, Master Richard," Alfred said suddenly, finally speaking up. They all looked over. "You must be going now. Exit through the terrace as you typically do when you attempt to sneak out, it will be the best option for you right now."

Dick blushed at the mention of his nightly escapades and bit his lip. "Right. What about you?"

"I'll be in the basement," Alfred replied honestly, referring to the cave.

Dick sighed and nodded. Right. They needed to leave. He shoved himself into Alfred's arms, giving him a long hug. "I'll call, alright? Stay safe." He felt a loving hand on his hair, brushing it back.

"I should be saying that to you."

Dick grinned, pulling away from his grandfather-like figure. Alfred gave him a small smile back, ever the most posh as he could be. Sometimes it was for better or for worse, but Dick could take it. They escaped from the terrace, climbing down the ivy laden trellis to the grounds below, landing on small pebbles. The Wayne Manor gardens were generally immaculate, and were even this time of year, but the gardeners were gone, leaving the grounds bare.

The grounds of Wayne manor went back for many acres, more back then to the side. The gardens were made up of interlocking walled areas with pathways in between. To an outsider, it was a maze of ivy and brick, but to Dick it was a friendly and familiar environment. Even still, the actual gardens were further back from the large entertaining space backing the manor and they rested to the left of everything, still more or less to the side. Back beyond them, and the manor itself, is all woods. It's hilly and annoying to walk around. There's some hidden things, a well that leads to the cave, a fire pit Bruce and his parents used to use, and some old buildings Alfred says have lost their history. It all eventually slopes down to a river. There's no dock, because neither Bruce nor Dick were particularly into boating.

Dick supposes he should be now, but it just doesn't capture his interest. So he pulls them into the maze of gardens, not in the obvious direction, because it's a real possibility that they would be expecting two sons of Poseidon to head toward the river.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked, looking around them. The walls of the gardens were several feet taller than all of them, Dick especially, and mostly covered with Ivy and flowers. Dick turned them into the one with the large fountain, the water only a drizzle as they stopped.

"I think they expected us to head toward the river," Dick said honestly, "So we're here for now."

"There's a river?" Percy asked, perking up.

"That's exactly why I didn't go there," Dick said, pointing at Percy's peaked interest.

"And why does the river matter?" Barbara asked, looking at Dick with narrowed eyes. Her face is scrunched up in suspicion and he really doesn't want to regret vouching for her. It doesn't matter anyway— Barbara was the Child of Law from the prophecy. And he was the Bird of Sorrow, which wasn't as cool or as compelling as Child of Law. Whatever.

"You know the Greek gods," Dick says hurriedly, "Like the whole… myths and everything." Thunder rumbles through the sky and Dick scowls because how else is he supposed to explain it? "Yeah, like you know, Poseidon and Athena and Ares and all those guys?"

Barbara nods slowly. "Yeah, I do."

"Cool," he said, "They're real. John Grayson wasn't my real dad, it was Poseidon. Like the Greek god Poseidon and all. So like, you know Wonder Woman and everything? How she talks about the gods, yes, okay, cool, she knows them and they are definitely real and alive and kicking and we have a quest to keep Prometheus from, like, killing all the demigods and then destroying the Earth possibly." He feels himself practically saying everything in one breath, worried that Barbara would not believe him. But she's always been open and accepting, especially of him because she was just the type of person to understand and not judge. He loved her for it.

He hoped it would apply to the situation now.

"Prometheus like the Titan?" she asked.

"Yeah," Dick replied, quietly. "Like the Titan."

Barbara looks away, into the roses that need to be trimmed, and then back at him. She flips the fire spoke in her hands. "How do you get yourself into these messes, Mr. Grayson?"

"It's a talent, Miss Gordon," he replied, a small smile breaking through his face.

She sighed a little, huffing a long strand of red hair from her face before she tied it back. "Alright, then let's go. I'm sure there's still a lot to tell me, and we need to get out of here."

Dick finds himself looking toward the Manor. He can barely see the tip of its silhouette on top of the walls. He hopes Alfred is okay, and that he made it down to the cave. He probably did, and the Manor would be clear by the time Bruce came back. If it wasn't, Dick was sure Diana could handle it. Right now, they needed to had West. He turned back to their group. Percy is casually explaining the mist to Barbara, who is looking at him a little like he's crazy; it's a fair assumption, but she's committed now.

They needed to get to a car. Some sort of transportation out of the city that would be discreet enough for them to pass by unseen and not high tech enough so they couldn't be sensed by monsters. He scowled at the fountain beside them and the water trembled a little. He felt Percy's sudden confused look toward him, but he kept his gaze steady away from the group.

"The garage," he said suddenly, "We can take a car and get out that way. We'll have to move quickly." He wonders if Alfred is okay. He wants to turn back, but he knows he can't. But…

"You guys go. Babs, you know where it is right?" he turned to her, blue eyes dark and serious. She takes him in and nods.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked. He's messing with Riptide-in-pen-form, twisting the cap in his fingers anxiously. It looks like a nervous habit and come to think of it, Percy was pale. He clearly hadn't liked being bound and Dick is surprised that he'd remained calm, or at least hadn't done anything, in the several hours he'd been knocked out in his own room from touching a sword. Not a whelming way to go out.

He looked up at the moon. It was covered in a haze of clouds, rising above them slowly. The sun had gone down, finally. "I'm going to check on Alfred. I'm an idiot for just leaving him. That's…" he was going to say that 'that's not me' because it wasn't. Robin wouldn't leave someone like that. And he was Robin, not just Dick Grayson. And certainly, Dick Grayson would never just leave someone like that either. He had to go back. He steeled his gaze. "I'll go check and make sure he's okay and get some food for us. Just in case we can't stop. I'll meet you in the garage."

Annabeth frowned at him. "Be safe. We'll meet you there."

He let out a small sigh of relief. "I'll see you in twenty minutes."

And then he disappeared.

* * *

 **Camp Half-Blood**

 **Earlier that Day**

* * *

"How many do you count?"

Piper handed Jason the binoculars. "A good five thousand maybe. They're all in the fields across the street. What do you think the mortals are seeing?"

Jason frowned, peering through magical lenses. He scrunched up his face to the side a little, and Piper found it very cute. He held on to the tree with one hand, just toeing their magical border, and with the other held the binoculars to his face. He appeared deeply troubled. And Piper didn't blame him. The army had appeared swiftly that previous night, camping outside of Camp Half-Blood. It was clearly Prometheus.

"Who even knows," the son of Jupiter muttered, "We need to tell Percy, Annabeth, and Dick."

"What's even going on in the world anymore?" she asked, her voice surprisingly bitter. Chiron had summed up for most of them the general gist of what was going on. And suddenly, they were in contact with Wonder Woman. Well, Chiron was. And either way, it was serious enough to involve the Amazons… and that meant the Justice League. Piper wasn't sure how she felt about all that, because that meant this really was bigger than them; they had been saying that it was bigger than them the whole time, but not once had she believed it.

Maybe it was because everything in their past was bigger and better than the thing before it. More evil, more powerful, more devastating. It was like they lived their lives on a TV show, but it was just a really crappy one where they all power upped until the next season's baddie rendered everything useless. And she supposed Prometheus, of all the Titans, was not the worst. He was not as powerful as Kronos, nor was he a fighter as Hyperion. He had neither the mass and stretch of Gaia nor the revering power of the Giants. But he had foresight and knowledge and he could speak.

He could twist words for himself. He was noted to be eloquent and sharp witted. He dressed like a businessman or like he was attending a gala. Piper had never once met the Titan, not really, because he'd apparently slunk back to whatever rock he'd escaped from to avoid the wrath of the gods. But she'd heard enough from Percy, and even from Annabeth. Chiron had noted, in passing, the Titan was witty. It hadn't been a comment of nostalgia or one of fondness. It was an observation, like saying that flower was a nice shade of pink or that that car had no front left tire. Mundane and in passing.

Piper knew the power of words better than anyone. But it was different. She could say any combination of words, sentences, phrases to get people to listen to her. Give me that car was not as eloquent as reciting a speech to fight in a battle.

Piper was no Elizabeth, but she'd fight with her words on the tip of her dagger like poison.

* * *

"—at least five thousand, could be more or less. Frank has told me the Roman camp is clear, it seems they've only targeted us for now. But that could change any day now. Our next step is to manually secure the border, stationary guards should be several hundred feet apart and in sight of each other. We can't risk a breach to the line, and we definitely need to make sure we're doing hourly rotations—."

"Do we even have campers to spare?" another counselor said pointedly, "It's so close to the end of the year, and a lot of kids have already been pulled. We just don't have the man power to fight an army of five thousand."

Jason frowned. "Agreed. But the Roman camp is allowing themselves to give us two cohorts. It's all they can spare for now until they know they're safe for now. There's a good several hundred of us here. That puts us almost squarely at a thousand," he said, looking around the ping pong tables. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. He knew it was a stretch to ask the Roman Camp for help, but Chiron had given them the go. Reyna had been compliant and the Senate had only had two days to discuss before they agreed to send two full cohorts, each at about 480 soldiers.

"We don't have a choice," Piper said, "Prometheus and his army aren't after the gods, not until we're out of the way. They're after us. We're not fighting for anyone but ourselves. Between you and me, I want to live."

Jason gave a small smile of thanks and she winked at him, leaning back into her chair. "Piper's right. And with Percy and Annabeth gone with Dick, we're down three powerful demigods. Right now we're on the defensive anyway. The monsters can't get within the border."

"And their quest is to get… something from the goddess of protection? What's she gonna give us that's gonna protect us from a five thousand monster army led by a Titan who can see our possible moves?" Travis Stoll asked, flipping his small bunched up paper ball back and forth in his hands.

Jason bit his lip, glancing at Piper for help again. The Daughter of Aphrodite winced and looked away, unsure of how much she could say. Most of them had been there for the discussion, but Chiron had brought those two aside and had clearly dictated how out of depth they really were. Finally, it was Piper who spoke up.

"Whatever it is, it's powerful. Once they get it, we'll be able to move on and go forward to protect ourselves. They can do it, they've made it through everything else," Piper said, finally looking away a little. Her mind flashed with the thought about Percy— the look he and Jason held that said they knew one day there would be a monster they couldn't beat. Piper couldn't imagine either of the two demigods getting defeated by anything. And she desperately wished for Dick to make it through too. He was smart, brilliant, and resourceful. She knew there was much he was hiding, but if Percy and Annabeth trusted him, so did she.

Travis kind of nodded, finding comfort in the fact that someone had given him an answer instead of the actual content of that answer. There wasn't much to be said. The quest was more or less straightforward, head west to find Soteria.

But Soteria wasn't exactly a Goddess you heard from. She wasn't really found in their everyday life, and she certainly never once had affected Travis or Piper or any of the others directly. She wasn't even like Iris, who few had met but whose services were used by almost all. She obscure, if that was the right way to put it. And maybe they did worship her, in small ways, but who knew?

Certainly not Piper.

She looked over the table. There was a steady feeling rising among the counselors— a feeling or readiness? Or perhaps anger. Piper supposed that the demigods had never been targeted before as directly as this, nor had anyone gone through the demigods to get to the gods. Sure, the Giants had to the gods. The demigods, to them, had been mosquitos in the summer; annoying, small, and hardly worth their time. Except they'd proved they were worth it; they'd always been alive, kicking and fighting and living lives they hadn't chosen.

But now they were being targeted. It was them. Maybe, yes, so the gods would be useless. But this time it was them. They were the aim, the goal. Prometheus in the Titan War had been testing things. A failsafe. He wanted to see what he could pull, what he could do. But where Kronos had failed, Prometheus would succeed.

But not if they didn't fight. And as Piper looked over the table, she could feel the anger. They were being targeted. They were in their own war, for themselves.

"So," Jason said, "We fight?"

Everyone looked at each other. Clarisse stood up, the bottom of her spear hitting the ground with a thud.

"We fight."

* * *

 **Wayne Manor Garage**

* * *

Barbara had never noticed how scary the garage was. She'd only been in a couple of times, but generally it was during the day and everything was lit up. The cars sat beneath long yellow lights as if to amplify their importance. It was long and narrow and there were two sets of ten cars parked evenly spaced apart. There was the one black Lexus that Barbara had been in herself, a limo, and several sports cars that had probably never once left the garage. On the other side was an older looking car, from the eighties, a few from the fifties and a neat Rolls Royce that Barbara wanted to ride in to prom.

It was empty when they entered and she led them to the back, in the darkness, where they'd have a good chance of escape if something happened to stray and find its way to the garage. She gestured for Percy and Annabeth to follow her, sneaking behind the Royce and passed the brightly colored cars from ages past. They followed silently, watching around them.

"We're safe in here, right?" Annabeth asked Barbara, turning to look at her. The blonde curls fell over her face and she brushed them from her eyes.

"Should be," Barbara whispered back, "This is where Dick told us to meet him. He wouldn't have picked this if he didn't think it'd be secure." Her words gave herself more assurance then she thought it did Annabeth. The blonde haired girl turned back away and frowned into the darkness, narrowing her eyes as if to find something that wasn't there.

"So," Barbara began, "How do you both know Dick?"

They glance at each other before Percy opens his mouth. "My dad is Poseidon too. We're technically half-brothers… but we only just met."

Barbara looks away, feeling suddenly awkward and intrusive. "I didn't know John Grayson wasn't Dick's dad, he always…"

"He just found out," Annabeth said sympathetically, "You couldn't have known. I don't think he really had a chance to process before he left for camp."

"That does make me feel a little better, heh. So, who's your… dad? Or mom?"

"Athena," Annabeth answers, looking directly into Barbara's eyes. It gives the redheaded girl a good chance to look at them. They're grey, almost a dark unholy blue like summer storm clouds. They're knowledgeable but also tired and they make Barbara feel like she wants to challenge the girl in front of her. Not in a bad way, but there's a quick-wittedness in Annabeth's eyes that Barbara feels she wants to match. "She's the goddess of wisdom."

"Wow," Barbara breathes, "That's cool. My dad is Commissioner Jim Gordon and my mom is Barbara Keane. No one important, you know."

"I think the prophecy thinks otherwise. And Dick does too, and I trust him," Percy said seriously. The dark haired boy shifted around and almost melted into the floor, his ready squat falling so he was sitting on his butt with his elbows on his knees. "And mortals are important too. We wouldn't have gotten very far without them."

Barbara looks away, biting her lip, and grips her spoke tighter. It's somehow become her lifeline to this strange story. She's unsure of what exactly is happening but is also extremely hyperaware to all the things going on around her. The sweat rolling down Annabeth's forehead from the heat in the garage, Percy's tired gaze at a Camaro, and the strange humming filling the air around them.

She glances out the window, toward the hazy moon, and shivers despite the heat. The garage seemed to have sucked in all the hot air from outside and Barbara feels overwhelmed by it. She feels overwhelmed by everything, by Dick's life now, and the apparent monsters, and the fact that she was going on a quest by two beings who weren't even completely human with only a fire spoke and some old clothes of Dick's. She feels so different than who she was only 24 hours ago. She hasn't talked to her father, but how can she even begin to explain this?

And Dick. His father was a god. He was going on this adventure to do what? Save the Earth? She didn't know what to think. She didn't even realize her breath was quickening until Annabeth laid a hand on her shoulder and stared at her worriedly. The humming has gotten worse and the moon in unbearably white.

"Everything's so different than I thought," she whispered, stuttering to breath.

Percy, _Dick's half-brother,_ sat up and patted her on the back. "I know how you feel. I was twelve when I found out the gods were real. Annabeth was even younger. It's strange and different and… weird."

"I'm fifteen," she said, "barely. Dick like… just turned fourteen. It's just all… a lot to take in. And I mean… how? How is this even possible? Like, I guess I know about it all because, duh, Wonder Woman and all, but she just seems so beyond it."

"It kind of just is," Annabeth sympathetically, "They just exist. There's a lot we could go into but… now's just not the time. And I understand the feeling."

"Dick will explain when he gets back," Percy said, glancing at Annabeth. "We'll tell you about our quest. Thanks for wanting to help. You're not the first mortal."

"Ariadne, right? That's someone," Barbara said, thinking of the little knowledge of Ancient Greece she remembered. She wasn't much for history herself, preferring math and computers and things that were logically run. People and history were things of the past, but this whole world bred in history. It was steeped in it. To the gods that existed to the people standing in front of her. Barbara had gone on a field trip to Gettysburg back a long time ago in middle school. She'd stood in front of the monument and looked up at some General that had died and thought about her program she was downloading back at home. History did not mean much to her.

She knew it meant a lot to Dick. She knew he'd been proud to be a Grayson, to be Rom. She knew he would have loved to learn where his family came from and why they were performers and why they were who they were. She had thought silently to herself that his strange fascination with his history was probably due to the fact that his parents were not around to answer the questions. The answers were not readily available, and thus more mysterious. She's never said that though, and kept him talking when he would talk about it all. He enjoyed it. And she enjoyed watching him enjoy it.

And here she was wanting nothing to do with her mother. Keane? What kind of name was that anyway?

Annabeth smirked a little at her. "Yeah, Ariadne. You know your Greek history?"

Barbara blushed. "I prefer math. Thanks for geometry though."

Annabeth laughed quietly and then leaned to whisper something into Percy's ear. The boy smirked, glancing away, and then nodded.

It was silent from then on out. Barbara settled behind her car, waiting for some sign of Dick. Percy and Annabeth talked silently a little to themselves, Barbara picking up the general idea of all of this. But she waited, and her thoughts began to wander.

"Where's the party, did I miss it?"

Barbara slammed her fire spoke into the concrete, cracking it. Dick flipped back, skidding across the floor.

"Whoa!"

She blinked. "Oh my god, Dick. I'm so sorry!"

The boy straightened and laughed, standing taller than he was. "All's fair. I'm alright. Are you guys okay?"

They all wearily stood up. Annabeth gripped the edge of the car and glared at Dick. Barbara wiped the sweat off her forehead and scowled in his direction. The boy held his sword up high, the blade almost touching his shoulder, and grinned at all of them. The heat seemed to grow heavier in the garage and Barbara desperately wished she just wasn't there right now.

"We need to get out of here," Percy said, "and start heading west. Was Alfred okay?"

Dick turned to look at his brother, eyes heavy. "Huh? Yeah, he was fine." He twisted to show a navy backpack on his back. "Brought food and clothes." He held up a set of keys. "And we need to get out or something."

"You're tired," Annabeth said apologetically. "I'll drive. Which car?"

"I have no idea which keys I grabbed," Dick answered honestly, rubbing his eyes. Why did he feel so weary? He could usually go days without worrying about sleep, not that it was good for him, and it wasn't like he hadn't slept for several hours after touching the sword. He scowled into the concrete floor.

Annabeth turned from him and clicked the unlock button on the keys. Thankfully, Dick hadn't grabbed one of the sports cars. As cool as they were, they could only sit two people and Bruce had taken enough girls on dates in those for him to want to avoid them at all cars. It's one of Bruce's 'work' cars— dark, black, with bullet-proof glass and plenty of safety measures to rival a rollercoaster. Dick breathes a sigh of relief enough though Barbara looks disappointed. She nudged his shoulder.

"We have to go driving in one of the Royce's one time," she whispered, leaning down a little to talk into his ear.

He grinned lazily. "After this quest, I promise."

She laughed. "Deal."

Annabeth and Percy dragged them toward the black Lexus and stuffed them in the back. Dick had no complaints, he slouched down in the seat and gripped his sword tightly to himself. Barbara leaned against the window, shoulders hunched back. The laughter from her face was gone, and Dick suddenly felt bad for dragging her into this.

They pulled from the garage, peeling out of the long driveway through the Palisades. The moon was hidden in the sky, and the lights of the city outshined even the stars. The clouds hung in the air, drifting along the highway, following their sleek black car out of the city. Annabeth, for having more or less grown up in camp, made an excellent driver. She sped out of the city and soon the lights of even Gotham's suburbs and docks became blinks in the distance. Dick dozed in and out of sleep and a hazy-awareness. Barbara had drifted off to sleep before they'd even left the city. And Percy, who's green eyes pierced the darkness outside, had not spoken anything but low whispers to Annabeth.

Dick glanced over at his friend. "Babs?" he whispered.

"Hm?" the redhead hummed, rolling her head in his direction.

"Thanks for coming," he said, pausing only briefly over his words, "This must be so weird."

"I'm co'fused," she said through sleepy fog, "Bu' you're m' frien'."

"Thanks Barbara, you're my friend too," he said, and reached over to squeeze her hand. The girls lips twitched into a half smile before she shifted and fell asleep again. He turned away from her, covering up his arms. It was still early in the night. They passed small New England towns and pleasant little bridges. Dick shivered. The quaint towns felt engulfed by the darkness and he felt a slow dread building up. Did they know what was coming?

He didn't know. He leaned back into the seat, watching the moon disappear and reappear through the clouds. He wondered how the team was doing. Bruce had said they were handling to 'mortal' side of the situation, to put it lightly. Wonder Woman told him to worry about his quest. Did she know everything? Was the League working with the camp? Was the camp alright?

Dick closed his eyes, seeing his mother's blurred face in his vision. He couldn't help but feel angry at everything. Maybe not at his mother— but he did feel a little discouraged by that. Had she meant to ever tell him? He couldn't answer that, no one could and he wouldn't ever know the answer. He needed to let go and not dwell. He could worry about the team, and the League, and the world. He shouldn't worry about something that happened almost fourteen years ago.

He woke up around 2 in the morning. He blinked through a daze and looked around. Barbara was still silently passed out in the back with him, her feet resting against his thighs. Percy was also done, his head lolled back against the head rest, drool slipping from his mouth. Dick pocketed that blackmail for later. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. He stretched a little, yawned, and turned to look outside. The land was mostly hill and in the distance of an orange glow in the darkness, he could see a city?

"Pittsburg," Annabeth said in the front, glancing at him through the back mirror. "We're almost through Pennsylvania."

Dick slowly sat up in his seat, careful not to wake Barbara. The girl only shifted a little. He winced. "Oh," he whispered back. "You're driving fast."

The light of a streetlamp illuminated her shrug and her blonde hair before they blew past it.

"So," she said lightly, "that's the sword?"

He didn't looked down on it. His fingers tightened around the hilt and he nodded. "Yeah, this is it. I… don't know how to explain it."

"It doesn't have the mist around it," Annabeth said, "Not if Barbara can see it clearly. Where'd you find it?"

Dick closed his eyes to think. "I just saw it on the wall when the Echidna attacked the manor. I fought her and… she died or whatever. But I got hurt, I honestly didn't even think about it until the other day. I don't know how I didn't see it before, but Mr. Wayne… Bruce's dad, collected like old swords so there are always a ton around the house." He wondered how that had worked— most of the swords would've just been normal iron swords, not celestial bronze or imperial gold. If they were, they would've been in a demigods hands or unrecognizable to a mortal. Maybe Thomas Wayne could see through the mist?

Dick wondered briefly about the implications of that before he realized Annabeth was talking.

"—can you not see it? It has to be magical in some way. What does the writing say on it?"

Dick blinked. "I don't know, but it's definitely magical. It's not Greek?" He squinted down at the sword through the little light the streetlamps provided, but couldn't make out any of the words. He didn't understand. "How could it not be Greek?"

"What makes you say it's magical, aside from the obvious?"

"When I touched it, and when I noticed it in my room. I saw the sword and pointed it out and Barbara said that she hadn't even noticed until I said something. And when I touched it, I passed out for like hours… that's why it took me so long to get back to you guys," Dick explained, sitting up fully.

"I was wondering," Annabeth said, glancing at him in the mirror again. "What happened when you touched it? Dick, you have to tell us these things?"

"Yeah," he whispered, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"What happened, Dick?"

He closed his eyes to think. He pretended he was talking to Aqualad, to the team, about a mission. It was a mission report. "I was in a castle. Really ancient, like pre-medieval. There was this tall throne facing away from me, and someone was sitting in it. Everything looked like it'd been abandoned for years. There was light from the windows, and they were strange; narrow, but open toward me. Like a trapezoid. I walked forward toward the man in the throne. He was old and withered, like a rotted body but he was alive. Barely breathing. He wore a really heavy wool coat… like it had been cold. I think it was hot, but I don't remember feeling really anything.

"He had a trident in his hand. When he talked, it was in a language I didn't understand at all. I told him I couldn't understand him. Then he said in English that 'Destiny is yours. Take it up.' I asked him if this was a message from Poseidon, but he just kept repeating 'Take it up'. Then he touched the trident on my forehead and I woke up hours later to Barbara shaking me," Dick explained, thinking hard about the dream. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

The man was so old and strange and withered, like he'd been waiting for something and just simply couldn't let himself die.

Annabeth didn't say anything for a long time. "It wasn't a message from Poseidon, he's a lot less subtle than that. If he wants you to know something is from him, he'll have the messenger tell you."

Dick thought long and hard about that. "But then what about the trident?"

"That… is strange," the girl murmured, mostly to herself. "Do you remember anything else?"

"It just happened when I touched the sword, that's all," Dick replied. "And aren't I taking up my destiny by going on this quest?"

"You'd think," the blonde said dryly, "Demigods don't just have dreams with random people telling them to take up their destiny. There's a connection somewhere. I'm trying to think about any other stories or myths that have people with tridents but…," Annabeth shook her head, "I'm afraid I'm useless here. I'll have to ask Chiron, we can send him a message. This has to do with your sword too. It has a history and it ended up at Wayne Manor for a reason, for you."

"How could Mr. Wayne have known to get it?" Dick said, dread settling in the pit of his stomach. If he was always meant to get this sword, and if it was at Wayne Manor just so he could get it, then destiny had determined his life long before he had ever lived. It implied that he'd never been meant to life with his parents, that John and Mary Grayson and his whole family were going to die so he could be adopted with Bruce. Dick didn't like how that made him feel. He felt cheated, yes, and angry. But what could he do? He couldn't go back in time and stop them— if they were meant to die so he could move into the Manor for a sword, then there was nothing he could do.

He felt like a pawn.

"Destiny," Annabeth answered, glancing back at him. "You said he liked old swords? Then he probably was gonna buy it."

"Yeah," Dick said, scowling into the dark. "I guess you're right."

Annabeth didn't speak, and Dick didn't say anything either. He wanted to wallow right now, and get through this. He let go of the sword, suddenly feeling wary, and leaned into the crook of the seat and the car door. They passed by a couple of small motels and rest stops, but Annabeth hurled through the streets, not even bothering to stop. Eventually, the sign for Ohio came up. The roads became annoyingly hilly and Dick sword he saw a sign for 'Barnville' every fifteen minutes. He ignored it, closing his eyes to try to sleep again.

"Dick?" Annabeth's voice broke him through the almost-sleep. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Annabeth," he answered automatically, his voice a little raspy. He swallowed. "Just tired. Do you want me to drive?"

Annabeth paused. "Dick… how did you come to live with Bruce Wayne?"

He hesitated. "My parents died and… he went through something similar when he was around the same age. I guess he saw something in me. He took me in. Why?"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "I was just wondering. You didn't tell me your name, you know."

"Dick Grayson," Dick said, "Richard, technically. That wasn't a lie."

"Thanks, Dick," Annabeth said, "My last name is Chase. My dad's a college professor. History."

Dick found himself lightly grin. "I kinda like history, but I never have time to study it. Both my parents were acrobats."

"I'm not even clear on what we have and haven't told each other," Annabeth answered honestly. "What's your favorite band?"

Dick opened his mouth to reply before he paused. He realized he didn't have an answer. "Um, I don't know. I don't really have time between school and… extra-curricular's and all." It was an honest truth— Dick didn't know what is favorite band was. Between the team and school and simply being Robin, he rarely had time to listen to music casually. "You?"

"Being a demigod doesn't really give you a chance to… enjoy music like that," Annabeth, her voice a little embarrassed. Dick found himself nodding.

And then… what did he actually enjoy? Aside from school and the team, what did he really do on his off time? Code? But that was a Robin thing. Acrobatics had to become a Robin thing, because no one could connect Robin and Dick Grayson together. He liked math, but that was a school thing too. Both Dick and Annabeth paused to reflect a moment. Dick found himself groping for everything he could. Sometimes he hung out with Wally and they played video games, but Dick rarely ever played just by himself. He didn't enjoy reading all that much, and he wasn't particularly into sports.

"My mom liked Bob Dylan," Dick found himself saying. "I don't really… listen to music, but I remember listening to Bob Dylan."

Annabeth switched into the left lane, pressing on the gas. "My dad likes Enya."

"That's cool… thanks for talking with me," Dick said, "And for… being understanding about this."

"I've been on a lot of quests, Dick. Honestly, I… I'm tired."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have asked you and Percy to come. I know something happened to you in the Giant War and I just… ignored whatever it was that was obviously still affecting you and—."

"What happened to us wasn't your problem, Dick," Annabeth said seriously. "And we needed to come with you. You're our responsibility and Percy would've come anyway, he cares about you a lot. We are dealing, but… just don't worry about it okay. It's not your responsibility."

"I should've thought about how you felt!" he winced, glancing at Barbara and Percy. Neither moved.

"I'm impressed by your ability to recognize that, seriously," Annabeth said, "But we wanted to help."

Dick turned away. "There's a lot you still don't know yet. I ignored how I was feeling about leading a… quest and just went for it. That isn't fair. I'm sorry."

Annabeth looked back at Dick through the mirror, eyebrows furrowed. "I understand. And thank you for realizing that. I forgive you, even if I don't think you really did anything wrong."

Dick felt his shoulders fall and nodded. Even if Annabeth didn't think he'd done something wrong, it still felt good to hear that. "I have to learn how other people see things too."

"You're really perceptive," she said, "and that's a good thing to have in a leader. I think you'll be fine."

Dick grinned, settling down in the seat. Slowly his eyelids began to fall and he felt himself relax into the seat.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	12. The Mission

**Ohio, USA**

 **Early Morning**

* * *

Dick woke up to the car sitting still and gold light in his face. He yawned, and sat up and rubbed away at his eyes. Barbara sat next to him, staring out of the window and looking at a farm across the deserted street. They were beyond any hills, the land mostly flat. They were parked at an old gas station, the meters looking like they'd stepped out of a museum. An open sign flickered in the crusty window and Dick saw Percy and Annabeth buying something from the man sitting at the register.

Cracked and faded road was the only thing around them, that and the farm. In the distance, he could see hills rolling where'd they'd come from, and even mountains. Further down the road, west, was so flat he could see the road rolling up and down. Heat simmered off the pavement, distorting brown grass in the distance. Dick glanced over at Barbara. She'd slung her hair up into a bun, and her eyes, heavy lidded, blinked noncommittedly outside.

"Hey," he groaned, "How long have we been here?"

Barbara turned back and smile lazily at him. "Mm. Not long."

"Oh," Dick replied. "Hey."

"Hey?"

Dick bit his lip. "Never mind."

Barbara rolled her eyes and her head and looked over at him, unimpressed. "Come on, Richard, what's wrong?"

Dick cracked a fake smile at her. "I'm just messing with you. How long have you been up?"

"Hour or so," she said, "Not too long. You were passed out. Normally you're such a light sleeper."

"I think the past few days are catching up to me," he said honestly, furrowing his brow. He watched the door open to the gas station and Percy and Annabeth walk out carrying plastic bags. "I've been a little… stressed."

Barbara nodded, slumping into the back seat. She laid her legs across his, folding her arms over her chest. "What is happening with the world?"

"A Titan is trying to kill all the Demigods so that the gods are weakened. If he takes us out, then he takes the world. But he's not just doing this with Demigods, he's got mortal connections. You know, people like you and your dad who don't know what to look for," Dick said. "But I think there's more to it. I know there's some employer, some guy who's calling the shots for Prometheus. I just don't know who yet. The Justice League is working on that."

Barbara turned away, her face worried. "We're saving the world right?"

"Yeah," Dick said, surprised by her lack of what? Surprise? Horror? "Yeah, we're saving the world."

She nodded, as if that finalized the world ending. "I can get behind that. My dad is a cop. Mr. Wayne, Bruce, he does a lot of good. And then you have Batman and Robin and Superman and all those heroes. I think that I'd like to help one day. I could be a cop too, maybe," Barbara said, "Or maybe just I don't know! I don't have any special powers!"

"Hey, you don't need any special powers!" Dick defended, "I never… I mean, Robin and Batman and stuff. They don't have special powers! You're the smartest person I know, Babs. You could be the best."

Barbara blushed, turning away from him and covering her mouth. Dick smiled, heat rushing up his face.

"Thanks, Dick," she said, just as Percy swung open the door and threw the plastic bag at Dick's face.

"Slim Jim's!"

The bag landed in Dick's lap, currently occupied by Barbara's legs. He ruffled through the plastic. Annabeth slammed her door, turning on the car. The engine rumbled and churned. The air conditioning turned on, blasting them in the face.

"Homeward bound," she muttered, pulling out of the decrepit gas station. "We'll do a food run when he figure out some place to stay for tonight. I'm hoping we can be in Iowa… maybe South Dakota by the end of today." She glanced back at Dick through the mirror. "I hope your dad doesn't mind me speeding."

Dick thought back to the night when Bruce hit 220 on the Batmobile. "Yeah, I don't think he'll mind."

She grinned.

The ride went much of how it did the other day. It was mostly silent except for the smooth silence of the engine and the car hitting the cracked roads of middle-America.

"A," Barbara said quietly, leaning on her hand as she glared out of the window.

Dick didn't reply until…, "B."

She pursed her lips, only glancing at him without moving her head. She waited. "C."

"D."

"E."

"F."

Dick found 'H' and 'I' until for twenty minutes they couldn't find J.

Annabeth gripped the wheel harder. "I got a jackass behind me, how's that for your 'J'?"

Dick and Barbara busted out laughing. The game finished on a measly W, until it was noon and they were on the last of their slim jims and driving with all the windows down. Crickets and cicada's echoed around the distant trees and corn fields. They passed several towns and malls, not once stopping except for a brief bathroom break for Percy. He was beginning to get fidgety with all the 'staying inside the car thing' and earlier he'd started tapping on the dashboard until Annabeth's hand snapped out from the front seat and stilled it.

Admittedly, Dick was beginning to get it. He need to _move._ And sitting around waiting to get out was frustrating. He wished he'd taken that bathroom break just to get out of the car and stretch. Barbara was fiddling with the lock on the car.

Dick glanced back at the Slim Jim bag and then out the window. He wondered how the team was fairing. They were doing okay, right? They were going out on missions, trying to stop this all? He glanced down at his sword. Maybe if he touched it again, he could meet that man with the Trident? Dick didn't think that the man wasn't a message from his father, but what did the words mean?

Take It Up.

Dick might as well be taking destiny and dragging it in the mud with the way his life was going.

He felt as if he'd heard the phrase before. It bore some familiarity, but he couldn't place it. Maybe a story or myth that was actually real, like the gods? But Dick's mom was Catholic, and his dad had been full Roma. Stories revolved mostly around the circus and songs where the lyrics told stories, like 'The Daring Young Man' or his mom's Bob Dylan records.

He never grew up with stories like most kids did. He didn't know lullabies or fairytale stories until after his parents had died and he'd met kids who'd grown up with them, and until after he'd moved in with Bruce. His knowledge was severely limited in that area, and even if he did want to research it he couldn't because he'd drag every monster he could from every direction in minutes. Dick knew Annabeth was thinking around about it too, but the two of them could only do so much.

They needed a library. Good old-fashioned research and some quality books. Or maybe just a librarian.

Or an Alfred.

But Alfred was several hundred miles away at Wayne Manor, hopefully safe. Bruce should've returned home from the off-planet mission or whatever it was today. If there were any monsters, he could have Diana take care of it. Dick glanced down at his sword again, reaching forward gently to brush his fingers against the hilt. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Not even a tingling or a revelation or anything. He was stuck with words he didn't know the meaning behind and a sword that couldn't give him answers.

It was pretty though, and not like anything he'd seen. It looked more, to be honest, like it might've been used for ceremonies. Riptide looked strong, despite only being roughly two feet long and with a simple leather hilt, it had a history, like Dick's probably, but it wasn't mysterious. The sword was powerful. It's words inscribed in Greek on the blade told you of its purpose, to take by surprise, to pull. Like the ocean, it meant to win. But the words on Dick's sword were meaningless to him, not in any sort of Greek or language that Dick might understand.

 _'_ _Cymer fi i fyny'_ and on the other side it said, ' _Rhowch fi o'r neilltu.'_

It wasn't English or a Cyrillic language. Definitely not Latin or French or Spanish. He knew a bit of German, and it wasn't that. Although… it did look a little like _Beowulf._ Dick's eighth grade English teacher had showed them a bit of Old-as-hell-English when they'd been learning Shakespeare and how the Old-English he spoke was actually Modern English. It'd been the reason Dick had started picking apart words and prefixes and suffixes. Suddenly, it made sense. Maybe it wasn't a language that was spoken now the same way, maybe it was a much, much earlier version of English.

Dick perked up, his smile reflecting in the glass of the dark window.

The afternoon passed in silence. They'd passed the 'Welcome to Illinois' some time ago, and aside from Percy's occasional humming and the girls discussing school, time seemed to fly by. Dick fell in and out of sleep easily for some time and woke up to Annabeth pulling down an abandoned construction road. The sun wasn't quite setting, but was well on its way there, and a sign for 'Luxury Homes from the 400s' reflected the light.

"Where are we?"

Annabeth looked back, her blonde hair hitting the seat. "Old, unfinished abandoned townhouses are good places to hide," she said, "Especially if you need to lay low."

Dick glanced at Barbara, both of them thinking the same thing. Clearly, Annabeth was speaking from experience. The houses rose in the distance between dead brush and tall, overgrown oak trees. Most of the row homes were wooden frames on concrete slabs, but a set of neat homes clearly meant to be the show-homes stood completely finished in the cul-de-sac. Annabeth pulled the car in front of the last house.

"We have to get the garage open," Percy said.

"I'll do that," Barbara said, "Dick can come with me!"

"We'll go," Dick said, suddenly serious. They couldn't be the only ones who'd think to find an abandoned house. Monsters, too, would find the homes. They were pushing a risky move by staying in one place for the night, but Dick knew they needed rest and sitting in silence could only be so restful. "We'll check the inside and you can do a perimeter search. Once we open the garage, we'll regroup."

Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other before they nodded. Annabeth turned the car off, pausing only briefly for a moment before she opened her door. The other's followed suit. Dick grabbed his backpack and his sword, finding sudden comfort in the hilt's cool touch. He and Barbara looked at each other before she nodded seriously. Just as they were about to walk up the stairs, Annabeth grabbed Barbara's arm.

"Be careful," the older girl said, her gray eyes serious.

Barbara paused, looking Annabeth up and down. She nodded firmly. "I will," she glanced back at Dick, "We will."

Percy grinned at Dick, giving him an encouraging thumbs up. "Kill some monsters for me."

Dick found this a little ridiculous. "We'll be apart for five minutes, what could go wrong?"

Percy's face darkened a little bit, but he turned away. "There's always something."

Dick thought back to every explosion the Team had caused in most of their missions, a montage of heat and flame in his head, and grinned, a little embarrassed. Not that Percy could tell what he was thinking, but the older boy's face seemed to figure there was a little bit more to Dick's embarrassment and ruffled his hair. Dick pulled away, grinning.

"Let's go," he said, pulling Barbara up the stairs. The door was a faded red from disuse, and the storm door squeaked as they pulled it open.

"I have my lock pick set," Dick said, pulling the small leather case from his back pocket.

"Why do you have a lock pick set?" Barbara asked in an accusing tone, brow furrowed in disbelief and confusion.

"Circus, Babs. I'm a jack of all trades," he said, grinning up at her as he got down on one knee.

She held up her fire spoke, "And I'm the master of none, let me knock off the handle."

He looked up at her, half amused, half mock-unimpressed. He turned around to focus on the lock and then he heard the subtle click. He turned the knob of the door and it swung open. The inside echoed through the empty house. The hardwood was shiny, the room was lit up by the light. It was abandoned and empty, not a sound echoed through and not a movement was made.

Barbara looked down at him. "Think it's safe?"

Dick pocketed the lock pick set and scowled. "Not for a second." He was severely limited with his lack of tools, but knew he could consider this a training exercise.

They crept into the house, Dick swinging his sword around the banister into the kitchen. Nothing stood there but dusty granite counter and brochures for how the rest of the houses were supposed to look. Barbara held her fire spoke out in front of her, creeping down toward the dining room.

"Perk of an open floor plan, no hiding spots," Barbara said, perking up, "I like Ikea furniture, how about you?"

"If we can't build it right, as least we have a lot of long wooden sticks lying around," Dick said with a shrug. "Let's check the upstairs."

But that too was clear, as well as the bottom floor. They opened the garage door to find Annabeth and Percy standing there, waiting. Percy had Riptide drawn and was swinging it loosely around in a circle. They grinned at each other.

"All clear?"

Dick fought back the urge to reply with something he'd say to Batman, or maybe even Aqualad. He just nodded, biting his tongue. Annabeth brought the car into the garage, and they closed the door. They all converged on the first floor, sitting around a mess of backpacks and Dick's sword. Annabeth leaned against Percy's thigh.

Dick flicked the metal of his sword. "I think I know what language it is," he said.

All three of them looked over, Percy quirking his eyebrow. "You can read it?"

"Mmm. No, I can't. But, I compared it to the languages I do know. It's not Latin or Greek, obviously. And It's not Russian or Slavic. But… it is close to English, actually."

Barbara looked over at him sharply. "Alright Mr. I-hate-the-English-language, why do you say that?" She picked up the sword, holding it gingerly in her hands like it was poisonous, and twisted it around to look at the words. "They're different inscriptions."

"Okay," Percy said, "I know I'm not the _best_ at reading but I know that isn't English.'

Barbara squinted her eyes at the words. "German?"

"Old English," Annabeth said suddenly, "but… older."

"A lot older," Dick said, "Probably. I looked at it and I was thinking about eighth grade English with Mr. Ramsey."

Barbara looked away thoughtfully, thinking about it. "I barely remember Dick."

He huffed. "We talked about the History of it and why English is special and all that jazz. Not important, but I do remember looking at it and thinking about _Beowulf._ I think it's Old English, but like Gaelic or like, Welsh. Which can definitely help us figure out the origin of the sword."

Percy reached forward for the sword. Barbara handed it to him. He held it tightly, flipping it in his hands. "It feels powerful, there's definitely a history. Do you feel it?"

"Power?" Dick asked, a little surprised. He thought about it. When he'd first grabbed the sword, he'd felt something take control. It was the feeling of being lifted and then placed somewhere softly, like when his parents had held him and taken him to bed after he'd fallen asleep in the main tent. It was gentle and welcoming, and the man with the trident hadn't been threatening. He'd barely moved, barely spoken. His words were said with hushed urgency, and his trident had barely touched Dick's forehead before he'd awaken several hours later. But the sword had since felt like a sword. There was no mystical energy or glow around it, like Percy's. It just felt like a sword.

But, there was still something about it. Something that he felt belonged to him in the sword. Maybe because it had only shown up to him, maybe because he had touched it and brought him somewhere that spoke about destiny, but Dick couldn't deny there was something about the sword itself. It was, innately, magical and that much was certain.

But first and foremost, it was a sword.

"It's a sword," Dick said honestly, "It's only as powerful as you make it."

Annabeth smiled at him suddenly, glancing at her boyfriend before she turned back toward him. Percy shifted a little and handed Dick the sword. "Swords like that have a history. Riptide… it's got a long one. It's up to you what to do with it next."

Dick looked up and smiled. He placed his sword in front of him, and touched the Not-English letters.

* * *

"Why do you get to drive?"

"I'm a much better driver," Dick explained, speeding past a Honda with three kids that stared at them from the back.

"You're speeding," Percy replied bluntly. "Not that I'm much better about it but, oh my gods—," he gripped the handle above the window and braced himself into the seat. "—at least I don't feel like I'm gonna die!"

Dick grinned. He was driving a bit more like Robin, and he was hungry. He and Percy had volunteered to go on a food run for the group. Annabeth and Barbara were staying at the house. It was clear that Percy felt strange leaving Annabeth, or even uncomfortable with it, but Dick hadn't said anything when they piled into the car and drove off. They weren't on some old backroad anymore, they were heading toward a larger town. Gas stations, convenience stores and consignment shops bounced up all around them as they drove further in to find the Walmart.

Percy wasn't a chatterbox though, that was Dick, and so he felt compelled to speak through the silence that had permeated through the car since they'd left Gotham. And there were probably plenty of more interesting things he could talk about.

"And did you know that English is the only language that really has Etymology because it's such a mix of words and other languages and base words and stuff. Like you have 'tea' and 'chai' and 'chai-tea' but really, chai means tea and vice versa, so, this is cool, so it's actually a way to differentiate our 'tea' from 'their tea'—," Dick paused, glancing over. "Sorry, I know it's boring."

Percy shrugged. "Hey, if you're interested in it then I'll listen. Same thing with Annabeth and Architecture. I don't know what she's talking about half the time, but I love listening to her talk about it because she enjoys it."

Dick blinked, thinking about that for a moment. "What do you like?"

Percy didn't say anything for a long while. When Dick looked over, Percy was focusing intently outside of the car. "I don't know, everything has been just… focusing on not dying since I was twelve. I mean, I know there are things I enjoy doing and that I like, obviously. Like swimming. My mom's food. But it just seems kinda lame."

Dick thought about how he'd been thinking several days earlier about how, as Robin, he didn't give himself much time to do anything. Bruce came to mind; when he wasn't working, he was studying case files and going over Batman-esque things. The JLA was more important than Bruce finding a book to enjoy, or a movie. Not that he didn't make time, but it was usually Dick forcing him to. Let's watch this movie, I had to read a book for school that I actually enjoyed, why don't you try it out?

But Bruce didn't really leave much time for Bruce. And Dick… did he leave much time for himself?

"The fact that I'm having the same conversation with you that I had with Annabeth says something," Dick said, quietly. "I don't think kids like us get a lot of time to ourselves."

Percy leaned back into the car seat. "I think there are things we enjoy, but in the grand scheme of things… yeah, I agree."

Dick turned into the Walmart parking lot and parked the car far from everyone else. "You know, um, being Robin and… working with Bruce, Batman I never really, ugh." Dick's head fell back onto the head rest. He stared into the grey interior of the roof. "I've really gotten a chance to watch Bruce. I don't think that I would've been able to do this if it wasn't for his training but you know. Him being Bruce Wayne is just as much of a mask as it is to be Batman. It's hard to get close to him sometimes, you know. And I do get close, we have things that we do that I don't he would've been like or would've done if I hadn't come to live with him five years ago but… yeah."

Percy was staring at him, Dick could feel his eyes on him. "What was it like?"

Dick blinked and turned to look at his older brother. "Growing up with Bruce?"

Percy nodded.

The acrobat turned away. "It was lonely."

* * *

They walked through the Walmart, got their food, and were walking to the car when the monster attacked. At first, Percy heard a loud purring and while he didn't know much about cars, he knew enough to know that that sound wasn't a car. It only took a moment for the pounding of padded feet hitting the pavement to ring in their ears. Percy pushed Dick out of the way just as the monster leapt out of the way. It was pitch black, with two heads that looked like grey-hound heads. It growled at Percy, knocking him clean off his feet and growing several feet in size as they both landed on the pavement. The shoppers all scattered, but Dick wasn't sure what they were seeing.

"Orthus!" Percy shouted, trying to shove the monster off of him.

Dick scrambled to get up, sprinting back to the car because ancient British swords were allowed in the Walmart, apparently. He slammed his elbow into the window of the car, the glass shattering in, and he grabbed the sword. Percy was wrestling with the monster and Dick reached them just as the older demigod shoved the dog/monster off.

"Where's your master, huh? Where's Eurytion?" Percy asked, taking out Riptide with a flash.

Dick held his sword stead as the dogs head's growled at both of them. The creature had grown much larger than when it had initially attacked but loomed over both of them with ease. The monster tensed when Percy mentioned the name 'Eurytion' but otherwise made no other move to attack.

"Who?" Dick asked, furrowing his brow.

"Eurytion," Percy repeated, "Works for Geryon, the guy with three chests."

"Naturally," Dick muttered, "Plan?"

Percy blinked. "I don't make plans."

"What the heck man."

Percy shoved his fist forward and the street cracked open, the pipes twisting up to shoot water at the monster. It wouldn't kill him, but it would shove it back enough for Dick to think of an actually plan. He disappeared behind a Yukon, looking through the windows. The pipes were still exploding, and Dick was reminded of when he'd first discovered his powers. But he had no time to think about it now. Percy slashed his sword down at the dog and Dick heard his name being called.

He knew that he shouldn't disappear without being able to relay the plan to Percy, but they didn't have a mental link with each other. Dick had to verbalize everything, and between the mental link and his and Batman's relationship while they fought together it was a struggle for Dick to remember to Speak. Out. Loud. Percy couldn't read Dick's mind and Dick was still getting used to the team, it was a whole other thing to get used to Percy and Annabeth and probably even Barbara, eventually.

The demigod leapt up over the car, using his hand as a spring to launch himself right behind the monster. Just as the dog figured out where Dick had gone off too, thank the Yukon, Dick's sword was already coming down on the beast. When the sword made contact with the monster, the creature burst into gold dust and scattered in the wind. Dick looked up, still frozen in his landing position. A perfectly executed front handspring with a sword in one hand and an ancient Greek monster waiting for him at the end.

Percy turned to him. "Where'd you disappear off to?"

Dick swung his sword to point at the car. "Yukon."

"Yukon," Percy deadpanned, "Right. Okay. Let's get out of here. Where are the groceries?"

Dick turned his sword to point at the discarded bags on the side of the road, directing Percy's focus to the grapes rolling underneath a Mercedes. Everything was soaking wet, excluding them, and the groceries were completely useless. In the distance, siren's began to wail. Dick and Percy glanced at each other before they lurched into action. Except Percy ended up in the driver seat and Dick was falling into the passenger seat and throwing the keys over. The fumbling of the keys matched the wail of the sirens and then they were driving over their own groceries and out the back way of the Walmart.

Once they'd left and were far enough away from the sirens, Dick glanced back in the direction of Walmart forlornly.

"I was really excited about that cereal," Dick said with a pout.

"It was just Lucky Charms, Dick," Percy replied, holding onto the steering wheel like it was made from poison.

Dick scoffed. "Just Lucky Charms, there's no such thing."

Percy snorted, turning around and speeding back past the Walmart where several police cars and the fire department were standing around busted pipes and gold dust. Dick leaned forward to watch it go by and grinned. It could've been worse, he had a knack for explosions but this time he didn't have any birdarangs, which was somewhat of a relief because he doubted they'd be very useful anyway.

Could he make bronze birdarangs? Oh, that would be something to look into. Maybe he could just make some regular ones and then explodey ones? The opposite of explode was implode, so ex- meant 'out of', and im- meant 'opposite'. And 'plode' meant to 'to drive out, reject', did explode mean 'out of rejection', technically plode should mean something that is neither exploding or imploding, but rather in a place of stasis. Could he make implodey birdarangs? Ones that sucked in instead of pushed out.

They were driving out toward the townhomes when they came across a long chain link fence with barbed wire along the top.

Dick furrowed his brow. "We didn't come down this way, did we?"

Percy pursed his lips. "No, I think I made a wrong turn."

"Keep going," Dick murmured, "I want to see what this is."

Eventually, low flat buildings showed up among the lone trees. Across the street were security guards and a large sign that said CADMUS RESEARCH AND SCIENCE FACILITIES. Dick gaped. There was no way.

There was no way.

"We have to go back to the house."

Percy swung the car around, swinging the back it around and leaving tire tracks along the road. "I'm guessing that's important."

"That's what the League is investigating for the clones or for…. Whatever they think Prometheus is doing in the mortal world, I have to let Bruce know about this. We need to get inside," Dick instructed, "This could be the research facility that I was looking at in my dream."

Percy glanced back at the series of buildings as the chain link fence whizzed by them. Finally, they found the right road and were speeding toward their hideout.

"SEC 16 LV 5, Section 16 Level 5. We need to get in and see what's there. If I notify the Team, they won't get here in time. We can do it now," Dick explained. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the team, but this was the first real lead they had on what was going on. He knew they were investigating Cadmus, but he hadn't heard any updates. No news, typically, was good news but often times it could be very, very bad.

"I've never broken into a lab before, Dick, isn't this more up your alley?"

"We can do it," Dick said, ignoring that feeling that said 'yes, go notify the team and go on your quest' because they could do this. They had to, they were right here! They could do it at night, maybe early morning, it didn't appear to be as busy as the other location in DC and that could be in their favor. It didn't appear that the team had investigated, but it was possibly Cadmus was leaving other trails elsewhere. That and they hadn't even been sure that it was Cadmus, it could've been STAR Labs, or even Luthor. But they were here, so Dick had to check it out.

He had his holo-computer and his Robin uniform, if anything, he could wear that to break in. For a moment, he debated on going in by himself— Barbara wouldn't be able to help much and Percy and Annabeth, while used to working where most people wouldn't see them wouldn't be able to help in the sense of stealth. There buildings were one-on-one sword fights, typically, and their weapons were useless against normal people. Aside from looking mildly intimidating with a baseball bat, it might be easier for Dick to go by himself.

"You're thinking," Percy said.

"Just about the mission," Dick replied, voice steady. He felt his brother turn and look at him, but ignored the feeling of guilt that settled in his stomach. He needed to focus now.

"We're almost to the house," Percy replied, not sure what else to say. He said this as they pulled into their abandoned complex, past the frames of houses and toward their small little sanctuary of Illinois. They pulled up, parked, and both silently got out of the car. Dick's thoughts were flying a million miles an hour and Percy was thinking about how strange it was a see such a cheerful character fall into such intense focus. It was something he'd noted about in Dick before to Annabeth, and the earlier revelation of Dick's somewhat lonely-but-not childhood still found something in Percy to stop and think. The boy was inherently cheerful and good spirited, but he clearly had changed, in a way, to fit living with his new father figure. Dick had admitted that he saw Bruce as his father, but he was also lonely, and had remarked, Annabeth had told him, that he didn't have much time to himself (for whatever reason; she didn't know about Robin, or at least, knew to not to say she did). Percy understood it was easy to look up to people and change and adapt— Dick had only been eight, nine, when his parents died. If we were still the exact same person, that would probably be more of a problem.

And Percy knew he was only getting what this smart kid was telling him, what he was being honest about. He hadn't seen or even met Bruce, and to begin to form opinions of him based on half-stories and few truths wouldn't be fair. Percy knew his mother had shaped heavily who he was to this day, and knew that Dick would he shaped heavily by Bruce. He couldn't, and shouldn't form conclusions.

It didn't matter either way, Percy would protect Dick just like he'd protect anyone who was his family. His mom, Annabeth, Tyson, Nico, Jason and Thalia. Any of his friends, really. He knew it was his flaw, he knew that it would one day cause his demise. But Percy didn't care so long as the next day, they were safe.

Annabeth appeared at the top of the stairs as they ascend up, and Barbara appears behind her.

"Where's the food?"

Dick winced. "We kinda lost it."

"Monster," Percy explained, brushing past them and collapsing on the floor. "But we're gonna need to eat if we go out again."

Annabeth frowned. "Go out again? Where are we going?"

"We discovered something that had to do with what Prometheus might be planning," Dick said, "It's east of here. A giant lab facility, Cadmus. They might have what I saw in my dream."

Annabeth turned away, folding her arms over her chest. "That's too heavy of a coincidence, Dick. We don't get coincidences, it just doesn't work that way."

"I know, I thought that too," he explained, "Trust me. It isn't something we can pass up. The League can only do so much covertly, and there are too many possible players. If we can knock this out and let them know…"

"How are we getting in contact with the League?" Barbara asked, looking at all of them accusingly.

Dick looked away. He revealed himself to Percy, and if he trusted his brother he knew he trusted Barbara. And he knew that he trusted Annabeth too, or else he wouldn't have chosen her to come. "I can. I can't use my communicator, true, but I can still contact Wonder Woman and the League with the Iris Message. And if I do use my communicator, I'll just… I don't know hightail it out of there before any monsters come."

Percy openly gaped at him before he snapped his mouth shut and blushed a deep red when Annabeth whirled around on him. Barbara was looking at Dick with her eyes narrowed, as if trying to gauge how much she knew before she spoke.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded, and then whirled on Dick. "What's going on, Dick?"

"I'm Robin," he blurted, "Like Batman and Robin and Justice League and stuff."

"Knew it," Barbara whispered. Dick glanced at her and smiled briefly.

"How is this all connected?" the daughter of Athena demanded. "Who knows and how did this happen? I knew Wonder Woman was involved, but Chiron was really tightlipped on how, so speak."

Dick squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. "I work with Batman, as Robin. I also work on a covert operations team with several other partners of the League. We… were on a mission, when I accidently discovered my powers. We got back and I told the League, and Batman, what happened. We found out my dad… wasn't John Grayson, and that I was a demigod. But only after I was attacked by Echidna in our house. After that, I had several dreams and the League agreed to investigate while he figured out more, I left to come to camp and then we got the prophecy basically. The League is working on the mortal side of things. We have to go to the facility, we have to figure out what Prometheus is planning."

Annabeth frowned, looking down and away from him to think. She turned to Percy, biting her lip. "Did you know?"

"He told me," Percy said, "If Dick says we should go, I trust him Wise Girl."

Annabeth seemed to melt at Percy's choice of a nickname. "What does the League know?"

Dick hesitated. "I'm not sure, actually. I haven't been in contact with them."

Annabeth turned to Barbara. "What do you say, did you know about this?"

The redhead frowned. "I didn't. I suspected, sure, but no… I didn't know it went that deep. You and I will definitely—."

"We'll talk, I promise," Dick rushed, he knew he was bad about talking and letting people know how he was feeling. He had to be honest with Barbara, he owed her that. She'd dropped everything and come to fight for something she hadn't quite understood, it would only be fair to her.

"Okay, so we go?" Barbara asked.

"Just in and out," Dick urged, "I promise. I just need to get into their computer."

Annabeth glanced at Percy and sighed. "I feel like I'm always the one opposing these and well, technically, I guess… it has to do with the quest. So, I'm for it. It'll be new. I'm always up for new things." She unsheathed her dagger and swung it around in her hands, placing them on her hips.

Percy shrugged. "Well, can't be the odd one out."

Dick grinned. "Great, here's the plan." And for once, he felt confident about the future.

* * *

"So, what do we actually know?" Flash asked.

Batman glanced over, swinging his chair around to look at Barry, cowl down and face furrowed as he went over the official reports. The team had been useful in watching several high-powered officials from Cadmus, STAR Labs, and Luthor but there was nothing conclusive. Nothing to lead them anywhere, and if they couldn't find whatever Dick's dream had led them to, then they wouldn't be able to stop what they could possibly divert if they knew what they were dealing with.

The team's mission to one Cadmus location had held nothing.

"Not much," Superman replied, running his hand over his face. "Cadmus?"

"Nothing," Barry pouted. "Though, the data is inconclusive so it could mean anything. Have you cross-referenced the kids, eh, team's reports for anything that matches or for any inconsistencies?"

"Several times," Bruce replied, "and there's been nothing."

He paused to think about Dick. Suddenly not being able to use any type of communicator was going to kill him. They were in the dark, and in the age of instant communication Bruce and Dick were muddling around trying to send letters that would take three weeks to get to one another with URGENT NEWS stamped on top. There was the Iris-message thing Dick had explained to him, but Bruce couldn't and while Diana new how to use it she couldn't do much either.

They needed a better way to communicate, a better way to keep in touch while on this damn quest.

"This is like dealing with the government, does the Olympian Council have red-tape, Diana?" Barry asked, scrunching up his nose and swinging his head around to look at her dramatically.

"They take their time," she replied dryly, "But we're doing as much as we can with the information we have. I actually had a proposal."

"Shoot," Clark said. "Please. We're fumbling in the dark here."

Diana leaned forward on her elbows, frowning. "The camp for the demigods, it is surrounded by Prometheus's army. Not the whole thing, but most of it. Monsters and demigods and creatures so vile that… either way. They're waiting for something. To attack or… I don't know. But I was hoping we could send the team down, deploy them. There are mortal forces there too, and we have a duty to protect them from whatever Prometheus has managed to do."

"The children have never fought in a war before," Hawk Woman replied, "What good can they do in a war? They're too young and too inexperienced."

"They're more prepared than you think they are," Black Canary interjected. "I know what they can do, and what they can handle."

"And what stops the others, Kendra?" Diana asked, "What about the Demigods? Hmm? Were they too young, at seven years old, to pick up sword and dagger to fight? Our team is trained and can work with them to keep Prometheus at bay. At least, now, he is in our sights."

Hawk Woman looked away, frowning and clearly displeased. But Diana's argument was solid, if not for the fact that it mainly consisted of, 'well, there are already children out there might as well throw more into the mix'. Not that Bruce could really talk about that, considering Dick had started at the ripe old age of eight. Then again, he was a lot smarter for his grade. And age. Bruce was convinced the boy was smarter than most adults.

"Who votes to send the team down?"

It's silent as the hands raise through the air.

Batman glanced at Superman and gave a slight nod of his head. The large man sighed, looking weary. "We'll deploy them the next chance we get."

* * *

 **Illinois**

 **Undisclosed Location**

* * *

Dick hold the Robin uniform, rubbing the material in between his fingers. He let his hands fall, closing his eyes. He could do this. He just had to change. He'd already told them, they all _knew_ and that was supposed to be comforting. He still felt like a lie, like he was living in some big secret and when he walked out in his uniform, they would only see the one side of him. The better side, the bigger side, the side he felt more uncomfortable in. Dick leaned back against the wall, letting out a deep sigh.

Slowly, he made himself stand up and strip down, replacing the old clothes with his Robin suit. Finally, all that was left was the single domino mask, white lenses that would completely cover his identity. He closes his eyes and slid the mask on, blinking rapidly and then turning to stare at himself in the mirror. Dick Grayson was gone. He wondered idly what his mother would think; if she would like to know her nickname for her son would eventually completely erase him.

Still. He squared his shoulders and his clenched his fists. They had a mission.

 _ **To be continued...**_

* * *

 _ ** _Hey! Sorry for the slow update. I'm trying to save up money for school before I head back so I've been working a ton. But I'm always thinking about this story and I have a lot of things planned out, already written in my notebook. Thanks guys!_  
**_


	13. The Titan

**Illinois**

 **CADMUS Labs**

* * *

When Dick walked out in his uniform, it was almost like something changed in the others. Barbara gripped her fire spoke and lifted her and chin and looked like a hero, and Percy and Annabeth stood up straight and were ready to follow, Percy pulling Riptide out of pen form. Dick, Robin, found himself standing straighter too, as if the idea of leading a team now were different than before. And it would be, and it would be good to remember that this wasn't the Team. This was Barbara, Annabeth, and Percy— who each had strengths and weaknesses that Robin wasn't used to dealing with.

This would be the real test.

Most of this mission, well, quest, was driving in the car. That didn't distract from the adventurous parts— the Orthus, Philinnion, staking out the house and then finding the research lab. Robin enjoyed riding in the car, he'd always dreamed, even as a kid, about driving cross country with friends. This wasn't quite what he had been imagining, but it was something, and he enjoyed it nonetheless. But now was time for an actual, goodness to god mission. And it would not only help the quest, but also the team, probably, and Robin was itching for a fight now.

No. Not a fight. He wanted to help some way or another, and this was good. Plus, if they got out fast enough Robin could bypass the security protocols of the League's airwaves and signals to send them the information. But they couldn't risk too many monsters.

He drove them to the compound, Annabeth and Barbara taking the backseat as Percy and he retraced their steps.

"So, we have a plan?" Babs asked, leaning forward to rest her chin on his seat. Robin scowled, still just a little too short for the seat, and then grinned.

"Absolutely. I need to get close enough to the building to download their floor plans and sensors. It'll put me on the grid, and hopefully that'll give us enough time to get in and out. Once we find Section 16 Level 5, we'll head down through and see what we can. Well, Percy and Annabeth will. Babs, you're with me. I want you to come help me with the computers. I'm going to send their files to the JLA," Dick said. "So, we'll take the east side. I've noted that across most CADMUS buildings, their east side is always lacking on guards. No idea why.

"Enter through the east. I'll download the footprint of the building. You two find section sixteen, Babs and I will find their main computers. Stay out of sight and stick to the shadows, your weapons won't help you here so avoid fights if you can. We'll communicate with these," he held up four comm. links. Extra's in case Miss M ever went down, or they were too out of range for the mental link. "Rendezvous fifteen minutes after we enter the building, east side. We'll go from there."

Robin parked the car some several hundred meters away, turning off the lights and pocketing the keys in his utility belt. They all exited, quietness settling over them.

"Are you sure we should split up? Maybe you and Percy and Annabeth and I?" Barbara asked as they trekked through the field toward where the security lights of the labs lit up the cloudy sky.

"No, Babs you're good with computers, and I'll need someone who can keep my back and work the computer systems if I need to. Plus, Percy and Annabeth work best together, and instead of sticking one of them with you it'll be better to keep our teams the strongest that we can," Robin explained, pulling out a domino mask for her to take.

Barbara stared down at it before she reached and closed her eyes, sliding the mask over. It covered her fairly decently, that way if Dick missed a camera her identity would be safe. Annabeth handed the girl a scrunchie. Barbara tossed her hair up into a ponytail, her domino mask and her sweatshirt making her look like an amateur vigilante. Robin shook the thought from his head.

Robin turned toward the others. "Do you guys want one?"

Percy and Annabeth both look down at his hand, and then at each other. Annabeth swung her dagger around in her fingers, a trait Robin had picked up on. "I don't need a mask."

Robin grinned. "Great. Let's go."

This would be the easy part, fortunately. Robin motioned for them to follow, and silently they all did. Outside of the sounds of the cicadas, the grass crunching beneath their feet was the only thing to occupy their thoughts. It was an unusually chilly night and Robin felt fine in his uniform, but Barbara was wearing only shorts and her sweater, clutching still only a fire spoke. He knew he shouldn't have to worry about her, but did anyway. Obviously, this was different than how Bruce felt— because, well, Bruce saw him like a son, maybe. But the same feeling of tread of 'what if something goes wrong' remained.

It wasn't an unusual feeling. In fact, Robin was quite familiar with it. In the beginning of their relationship, Dick had felt ill-prepared and worried. That had gradually changed with time, in more or less positive or negative ways. Comfort in their knowledge could grow to arrogance, a fact that Robin had had to face after he'd been confronted with the idea of being leader to the team. In the beginning, he felt the most prepared, the most skilled, and the most knowledgeable. And while he did have five years of experience, this was true, he was still young. And others could bring more to the table in areas than he could.

A hard truth to accept. It was something he knew he was working on.

Batman's training didn't make him invincible.

It was a fact that Robin had had to deal with. Maybe he was overcompensating now, with letting things sort of sway, not really following through and letting other people take the lead, but he wanted to make sure his brother's voice, and Annabeth's and Barbara's, were being heard. It was difficult and he knew this mission _would_ be, but Dick felt almost better about this than most missions with _the_ team. Maybe it was because they weren't competing with each other, or maybe because this was so new to all of them, in a way, and they were being forced to rely on the others on the quest. Robin knew for a fact he'd have to go back and analyze this later for safe keeping, just in case.

It was a struggle for him to step back and look at things from the third person, for him to acknowledge that he too had flaws that contributed to the team. And it wasn't that he didn't know, he did know his flaws (probably all too well), it was setting aside the pride to admit that they'd affected him. There were people that, to him, didn't seem to have flaws— Bruce, for one, although the more Dick thought about it as he grew older the less likely it was, his parents in his eyes had never had any noticeable flaws to an eight year old, and right now, Percy. His older brother seemed confidently aware of his situation, going with the flow but knowing just how to react in case something surprising happened.

And maybe Robin was wrong with that. Maybe Percy really had no idea what he was doing.

He stopped short, taking a moment to crouch down in the grass and glare through his lenses toward the outer layer of the research base. They'd circled around toward the East end of the building. Robin had been right, the building's security was lacking. Not that the shifts just magically disappeared from West to East, it was that this was a long break between the one part of the building and the _other_ part of the building. So it left Robin and Co enough time to make it inside one of the loading doors after Robin opened them.

And that was what would take time. Hacking took time, from minutes to sometimes hours to even days of going back and forth with numbers and code. But Robin loved it. He loved solving puzzles, and that's all coding was; puzzles with rules. He brought up the holo-computer, diming the light so it wouldn't be noticeable and then turning away and crouching, keeping his cape over his shoulders.

"This will take some time," he voiced, bringing up the screen. "It depends on their security."

Percy eyed Robin's computer warily before he glanced around, expecting a monster to magically appear. Unfortunately, it was a possibility and a risk they had to take. They couldn't go by the Demigod rules all the time, not if they wanted to win this war.

Barbara leaned over occasionally, voicing her own whispered thoughts on what he should do. Robin obeyed without word, partly because he didn't want to be rude because he wanted to look impressive and partly because he really needed to focus, and this was making it go faster.

"I'm sorry it's taking so long," he whispered suddenly, "They're security is good. I just need a few more minutes."

"No problem, Di— Robin," Annabeth said back, peaking up and over around Percy's shoulder to get a good look of the building. "Sorry."

He didn't look up from his computer. "Don't worry about it."

"Why Robin?" Percy blurted. "I mean, sorry, I know you're focusing."

"S'okay," Robin muttered, "It's just a name."

Maybe he lied well enough, maybe he didn't, but Dick didn't feel the need to explain the name to anyone. Not Wally, not Clark, not Diana and not Percy, either. It was his name. He didn't need to share it. It was his.

"I'm in," he said, before Percy could open his mouth to speak. "This will just be a moment. Move forward, we're going to get through that fence. I'll loop the feed."

And that was easy enough. They moved forward, still crouching below the grass, and Robin shifted through his utility belt for the fence cutters.

Barbara snorted. "No blowtorch in that belt of yours?"

Robin hid his grin. "They'll see the light." And then he snapped through the fence, he and Annabeth pulling it open and sliding through with Barbara and Percy behind them. The grass was shorter now, and less crunchy. They'd have to be as silent as possible, if they could. They sped behind a large truck, now on the pavement. Robin leaned around the wheel, glancing at the hanger doors.

"Babs?" he whispered.

She was leaning around the other side, hand on the tire and one knee on the ground. "All clear."

"All clear here, too. I'm not seeing anyone for another— down!" He snapped his back into the tire, staying completely still. Percy and Annabeth both stilled too, Robin only seeing their barely lit faces from the ambient light around them. Barbara had crouched back behind her tire, clutching the fire spoke to her chest. Robin let out one breath and turned back around the side and poked his head out, eyeing the corner and the other trucks around them. 200 meters to his right was a single guard, standing there straight backed and completely poised, having just appeared to stand position. If Robin didn't know better, he'd say the guard was well-trained or much more experienced.

That said, the man look like he was too good. His back was too straight and he was far too tense. A newbie. Those were the kind of guys Robin liked best— not because they were the best showcase of his skills but because they were so easy to take out. And they had something to prove, they easily angered. It wouldn't do them any good, and Robin was everything but angry when he fought.

"I'll be right back," he whispered, gone before anyone could say anything.

He quickly sprinted over to the shadows and crept toward the other side of the large truck, sticking low to the ground. He glanced only briefly back where he knew his friends were before he jumped, holding onto the roof of the truck and flipping himself over to the top, crouching low. The vehicle barely shook with his added weight, and he knew it could just be chalked up to be wind.

He looked down at the guard, still alone and tense. The man never once looked up, keeping his eyes instead ahead of him. Robin smirked.

"Hey," he said, "Anyone ever tell you to relax?"

The guard spun around, holding up his AK, eyes wide. It was a barely a moment before Robin flipped down, grabbing the man by the shoulders and twisting. The guards tight legs buckled out from under him and he landed on the ground with a thud. Robin landed on his feet and spun around on the ball of his foot, slamming his heel into the man's head, knocking him out. He stood up straight, turning around and lifting his leg to slam his foot across his next attackers chest. But there was no one there, Percy had dodged completely, surprise evident on his face.

"Oh," Robin said, standing as tall as he could. "It's you."

"You have to be clear when you go off like that, eh, Robin," Percy said, "And yeah, it's me."

Robin winced. "I told you guys I'd be right back."

Percy sighed. "We can't talk about it now. I came to get you."

Robin frowned. "Not part of the plan."

"I'm an improviser," Percy replied, "I just want to make sure you're okay, Dick."

Robin itched to tell Percy not to call him that in the costume; at this moment in time, Dick was Robin. Robin was the only one who existed. But he also understood that Percy was feeling protective, even if Robin really didn't need any protection from his brother. He frowned, shoulders dropping, and turned his head away a little.

"Thanks. Let's go."

Percy and Robin found their way back to their Hiding Truck where Annabeth was showing Barbara a trick with her dagger.

Barbara glared at Robin through her mask. "You disappeared."

Robin winced. "Yes. Sorry."

"Just don't do it again," the girl said, turning away momentarily to glance at Annabeth. "Are we in the clear yet?"

Robin opened up his computer, looking at the east end cameras. Clear. He shut it off. "We're good. Let's move."

They sprinted across the pavement to the small grove where the Hanger door was. Robin leaning up against the side of it.

"Guards ETA t-minus two minutes," he muttered, turning on the computer. He could get into the controls for the doors in less, and sure enough the large metal doors slid open just enough for Robin and Co to slip under and into the shadows. The doors closed with a muted clang, and they were left in silence. Percy's sword glowed gently, a calming blue in the tense evening and Robin found it a comfort in the darkness of the hanger.

"What now?" Annabeth asked, her face lit barely by Riptide.

Robin opened up the video feeds. "You and Percy go find Section 16 Level 5, presuming that means floor levels and 16 being a room number or something. Babs and I will head to the main Computer, any information we need we can find there. I'll get into the League's codes and from there we'll send any information we can. Don't pick fights, and don't get seen," he instructed, downloading the footprint of the building. Naturally, there was nothing that said SEC 16 LV 5 in the prints.

Annabeth turned his arm so she could see clearly and then frowned. "I'm not seeing it."

Robin bristled. "Top secret stuff like that don't show up on the blueprints. If it's not there, it can't be monitored by anyone. That probably means it's below levels."

"Then there won't be a clear access point," Annabeth reasoned. "So we're hunting for an invisible underground entrance, basically. Hazel would be really useful right now."

Percy snorted in agreement. "Ready?"

The blonde sighed, glancing at Robin. "We good?"

He nodded. "We're good. Babs, you're with me."

Robin nodded to Annabeth and Percy, gave a brief gesture of good luck, and took the red head down the hall with him. Annabeth turned to Percy to find a small smile on his face. "If I said something before, I'll say it again— what's with children of Poseidon and red heads?"

Percy blushed. "I think I prefer blondes."

Annabeth laughed lightly before silencing herself. Percy could barely see her in the dim light of the sword, but it was a enough. She looked ragged but fierce. She clutched her dagger hard, standing up tall and looming over him. Percy found himself on his feet, about to cap the sword when Annabeth placed her hand on his arm.

"Not yet," she said, "we're in a place full of a different type of monster, Seaweed Brain, our weapons won't help us the same way here. We have to use the element of surprise."

Percy looked down at Riptide, twisting it in his hand, already forming up a minor plan if the even they ran into a guard. "I can do that."

"Good. Let's move."

They found the door that would take them out of the loading dock. It was small, metal, and nondescript. So when they opened the door and found stark fluorescent lights, they both turned away and closed their eyes, Annabeth scowling at the light. Darkness was their friend right now.

They walked quietly, sticking to convenient hiding spots and shadows in darkness. The only good thing about the building's bright white lights were the sharp angles that created perfect sharp shadows to hide in. If they needed too, they could turn and almost instantly be out of sight.

Annabeth had a near perfect memory, lying the map of the floor open in her head. Robin's loop was the only thing allowing them to walk freely through the halls when there weren't guards. And though Annabeth was nervous about someone finding them, she was more worried about what she would find. Dick, Robin, had described hundreds of closed capsules that looked like, apparently, cloning pods.

Apparently humans could clone now.

An interesting thought.

But now was not the time to argue about science and morals. They had to find the elevator. It might not take them down, but there could be an entrance or something near it that would allow them to go downstairs. And Annabeth really didn't have an idea of where else to start.

She had no hologlove or even a physical map, she had to work on memory and guess work, hoping that she could find the entrance to a secret underground lab in a high end research facility. Not the kind of mission she was used to. In almost an instant, there was a voice and footsteps coming down a perpendicular hall.

"I'm telling you, you tell the boss it'll be done in a few days, we're already shipping some of 'em out—."

"Hide!" Percy hissed, pulling Annabeth into the shadow of a large column, hiding Riptide behind his chest.

Not a moment too soon, a man in a lab coat stalked past them on the phone, his hands moving wildly as he spoke.

"I bet you he knows where we're going," Annabeth whispered as the man passed by.

"I might just agree with you," Percy agreed, letting go of Annabeth's shoulder. Slowly they leaned around the column and checked the hall. Aside from the loud scientist, it was empty. They followed close behind him as much as they could. The man had no clue they were there.

Finally, he led them to a back corridor. There were two guards standing at the end and Annabeth pulled Percy back just before he rounded around the wall.

"I'm tellin' you— yeah, yeah, jess a moment al'ight?" the scientist stuffed the phone in his pocket. The guards stood in front of a seemingly empty wall, but the two demigods guessed it was probably a door of some kind. The man slammed a keycard into the wall and green light beeped right above it. The doors slid open with a hiss to reveal a shoddy looking elevator. He stepped in and disappeared.

Annabeth and Percy leaned against the wall.

"Riptide can probably get us in the door if I find a seam," Percy whispered. "The guards?"

Annabeth blinked, thinking. "The uniforms could be useful. I say we take them. Hide them in the ventilation shaft." Sure enough to the right was a small but large enough vent to stick in two bodies.

"I'll follow you, Wise Girl," Percy said with a grin, looking down at her with mischievous eyes.

Annabeth swung her dagger around in her fingers and then sheathed it. "Watch and learn, Seaweed Brain." She popped out from behind the wall. The reaction was immediate, the two guards jumped and held their guns up.

"Stay where you are!" the one on the right barked.

Annabeth continued down the hall. "I'm really lost, actually. Do you know where Level 5 is?"

She barely had a moment to dodge a blue ball of energy being shot from the weapon. What kind of guns were these? No time to think. She leapt to the side and rolled forward, unsheathing her dagger. She dodged the energy balls, running side to side, and then lunged forward. The guard stumbled back as she flew toward him, sliding the dagger just through his throat. It passed clean through. The man choked, dropping the weapon as she spun around him, slamming her foot into his back. The other guard barely had a moment to register an invisible something flowing its way into his ribcage before an elbow snapped his chin up.

His head hit the wall with a resounding crack and he crumbled to the ground. The first guard scrambled up, reaching for his weapon when the dagger found itself tip first into the solid concrete in front of him. Annabeth slammed her foot on the back of his head.

"Don't move," she warned. "Not if you want to live."

"You're one of them," he breathed, a little blood trickling from his lips.

Percy rounded the corner with Riptide. "Consider myself taught," he muttered. "The other guy out?"

Annabeth grinned. "And Clarisse says I'm nothing without my dagger." In one fluid motion, she squatted down and elbowed the guard across his face, hitting his nose. Blood began to leak out of it and onto the floor. "We need to change."

In less than two minutes, the two of them had fumbled into the two guards uniforms and stuffed the two unconscious men into the vent shaft. Annabeth's suit was slightly too large for her, and the helmet was a little loose, but she stuffed her hair up into the back to keep it on as best she could.

They stood in front of the doors, staring them down. "Find a seam?" she asked, her cheek pressed against cold metal as she looked it up and down.

"Not yet," Percy said, scowling. "But I can make one." A good attribute to most magical metals is that they were extremely versatile. They had plenty tensile strength (Annabeth's mind diverged briefly to think about the tensile strength of most Greek statues). As Percy pushed Riptide into the metal, the celestial bronze almost seemed to glow a brighter blue. It cut through the metal, not easily, no, but like it was a thick sheet of soft stone. The grating sound wasn't too loud, but Annabeth winced. Percy cut a small enough hole to see into the elevator.

"Can you fit?" he asked, pulling Riptide out slowly. He grimaced down at the sword almost apologetically, as if it had feelings.

Annabeth looked over the hole with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. "I think so." And she did, barely. She ended up with a few extra scrapes on her legs and arms and she was pretty sure she cut a little bit of the too big guard boot she was now wearing, but it was worth it. Once inside, she opened up the doors. They slid open without issue, though the peeling of the metal from the sword did cause the doors to grate loudly.

Percy winced, slipping inside and hurriedly pressing the down button.

As the doors shut, she looked over. "There's a five."

Percy paused for only a moment before she pushed it gently. The elevator rocked a little and then their descent began. Percy touched the comm. link in his ear. "Uh, Robin, you copy?" He lifted his finger and glanced over at Annabeth. "I sound so official."

A voice crackled over both their comm. units.

 _"_ _This is Robin. You guys find a way down?"_

Annabeth touched it gently. "Yeah, we did. How about you?"

 _"_ _Babs and I have taken full control of all cameras and sensors in the facility. I've got eyes on you… although, it ends after the elevator. They must not have anything down there, no risk of hackers that way. Damn,"_ Robin said, sounding a little irritated. Annabeth heard typing over the comm.

"Language," Percy said lazily.

 _"_ _Yeah, yeah,"_ Robin muttered. _"Maintain radio silence from here on out, until you get back up here again. You don't know who's listening. Robin out."_

The comm. unit cackles down, and then there is nothing. No hum or slight buzz of electricity. Annabeth glanced over at Percy. "Now or never," she said, sheathing her dagger under the suit and stepping out into the unknown as the doors slid open.

It was… a letdown. A long empty hall with barely flickering lights. They'd long since lost the scientist from before. They walked down steady, and Percy flicked the visor of the helmet down. Annabeth followed suit. The longer they got into the hall, they passed no guards or rooms of any type. Until, eventually, a door with a large grey painted one on the side of it. They looked over at each other.

"I bet you sixteen is down there somewhere," Percy said, looking up and down the hall.

"Probably," she hummed, and leaned forward to look in the glass. Inside the room was a single lab. There was a man strapped to a table, halfway up like an examination table and made of cold, cool metal. He had a strange green liquid pumping into his arms and if Annabeth didn't know better, she would swear he was dead. The man was pale white, like snow, and his veins were a deep black. In an instant, the man's eyes and head snapped up, as if he knew someone were watching. He bore yellow eyes, like an owls, past the glass and into Annabeth's own. She jerked back suddenly, snapping her eyes shut and then turning away abruptly.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"We should keep moving," she muttered after a brief pause. Percy didn't say anything, and they kept walking down the hall.

They passed two and three and four, then five and six and seven. Annabeth kept her curiosity at bay, the thought of those yellow bird eyes causing her to shiver. She didn't like the look of an almost dead thing looking up at her with eyes that should bear wisdom.

"Sixteen," Percy said after several long minutes of walking. The door was like all the others. Wooden with a glass pane, and the number sixteen written in large grey next to it. Overtop, on a small plaque, were the words SEC 16 LV 5.

"We've got a visual," she muttered, resting her hand on the door. It opened with only a click. The room was expansive, not like the others, and it was like Robin had described. So massive that the light could barely fill it, and filled with large looking pods. Columns stood in between the rows of metal tubes, and it was completely empty and void of human life.

"Jeez," Percy said, leaning past her to look inside.

"Come on, we need a better look."

They walked in, Annabeth stalking up to one of the pods. Just as she placed her hand on it, an alarm began to blare. They both jumped, Percy ripping Riptide out of his pocket. They turned straight on each other. She ripped her hand away and, before they were out of there, spotted a work table. A several computer monitors and a large set up. She ran over.

"What are you doing? We need to leave! I hate being underground," Percy grumbled, swinging Riptide around.

"This looks promising," she replied, leaning around one monitor. And she was right. There, still in the computer, was a single flash drive. She didn't know if it was useful or not, but anything at this point could be helpful. She snatched it out of the computer and followed Percy out into the hall.

"Let's go," and then she grabbed his hand, and they ran.

* * *

 **CADMUS Labs**

 **10 Minutes Ago**

* * *

Robin pulled Barbara away from where Percy and Annabeth were. Most computer stations or towers were up, everything moving up toward a satellite or something where the communication would be. If they could get up there, they could have access to everything. Right now, Robin had messed with their camera's and sensors, but that would only last so long before the loop would begin to look suspicious. They couldn't risk that.

"How're we getting there?"

Robin grinned at her, snapping himself into the corner of a column. "How do you like vents?"

She scrunched up her nose, slipping into the column's shadow next to him as a guard passed. She waited a moment. "I could _not_. But I have a feeling I don't have much of a choice."

Robin smiled, turning around and slipping open the vent shaft, placing it to the side. "Ladies first."

"You owe me, Grayson," she muttered, sliding inside. He looked around the hall before slipping in behind her.

"I'll guide you where to go. First right when it comes up," he said, squeezing around to place the vent door on as best he could. They shuffled through the vents as quietly as they could manage. Barbara was eerily silent, but she turned when Robin whispered to her to turn and she stayed still when Robin caught something on the motion sensors. The building wasn't entirely empty, no, there were people moving around. And there were guards moving around in regular rotation.

Robin squeezed through the vents behind Barbara. He had grown a little since the last year, but he was still small enough to comfortably fit in most large industrial vents. It was an added trait that Batman could never do, and it gave Robin a sense of security in his usefulness. At the circus, they'd been worried that Dick would grow to be too big to be a trapeze artist. But at thirteen, fourteen years old, he was still the size of an eleven year old. Even Barbara was taller than him, though she was a year or so older.

A girls matured quicker than boys did anyhow.

"We're almost there, next left and there should be a shaft above you," Robin instructed, closing the hologlove as they turned the corner. Sure enough, above them was a single vent. Barbara slipped up into a crouching position as best she could, looking up into the large rooms.

"Lots of computers and… a couple of people," she whispered. The hum of such large computers almost drowned her out.

"Can you open it?" he asked, voice almost at normal speaking volume.

Barbara wrapped her fingers around the white metal and pushed a little, just enough to pop it out of place. She slid it over and, without looking at Robin, leapt into the room. He looked up thought the hole just in time to see her slam the iron fire spoke into a guards head. The helmet shattered on impact, and the man stumbled over to the side.

Robin jumped through the hole, rolling forward and throwing out three bird-a-rangs at the other guards. Two were pinned down immediately to the floor, and the other lunged out of the way. Her hefted his gun up when Barbara spun, dropping low and kicking her left leg out. The man almost flipped over, dropping the weapon and falling onto the floor.

Robin reached for his escrima sticks, swinging them around in his hands and advancing on the two scientists. One slammed his fist onto the computer, immediately shutting everything off. Robin scowled. "No!"

"Batman's kid," one gasped, leaning back into the computer. He wore a Hawaiian shirt tucked into old corduroys.

"Who's the other one?" This man was tall and lanky, with greying hair and dark skin.

Barbara slammed the fire spoke into the linoleum floor. It cracked under the duress. Robin grinned, "I suggest getting on the floor. Move away from the computer. It's kind of mine now."

The first scientist, the one who'd recognized him as Batman's partner, threw his hands into the air and shuffled away to the side. Barbara lifted her spoke up at him. The second one hesitated for only a moment before he lunged toward the emergency button.

Robin spun out his escrima stick so quickly, it snapped into the man's wrist. He howled in pain, falling to the floor and clutching his wrist. Robin dragged him over to the other man.

"Lights out," he said cheerily, and then slammed his foot into their heads. The men collapsed onto the floor.

"Robin?" Barbara asked, her voice quiet.

He didn't respond for a moment, looking down at the two men on the floor, unconscious. "What?"

"Nothing," she said immediately. "Let's get started."

Robin nodded in agreement. "You work on communications. I'll work on getting any information we can about SEC 16 LV 5." His shoulders dropping as he fell into the computer chair, Robin began to work on their firewalls. Barbara started on the other computer, typing furiously into the codes. Eventually, the computers unlocked, and Robin could see what the man had tried to shut them out of. Hundreds of files, all open to various projects that this facility was working on. Words flashed on the screen.

"Jesus," Barbara muttered, leaning over to look at the computer.

"Immortality, time travel, dimension hopping, this is straight out of an H.G Wells book," Dick said, leaning back and running and hand through his hair. "This is… this is heavy. Jeez."

 _"_ _Uh, Robin, you copy?"_

Robin barely took a moment to pause, his hand reaching up to touch the comm. link. "This is Robin. You guys find a way down?"

A brief pause, and then Annabeth is speaking. _"Yeah, we did. How about you?"_

Robin slid the files away to another screen and pulled up the video feed. Barbara moved to work on the sensors again, typing away. He touched the link again. "Babs and I have taken full control of all cameras and sensors in the facility. I've got eyes on you."

He looked down at the camera, watching Annabeth and Percy in the guard uniforms. He'd have to ask how they managed that. If he and Barbara were taller, they could've done that too. But they would've been outed the second they tried. He looked through the feed and scowled.

" … although, it ends after the elevator. They must not have anything down there, no risk of hackers that way. Damn," Robin said, sounding a little irritated. He moved through all the feeds, trying to find something that might indicate it wasn't on the main floors, but found nothing.

 _"_ _Language,"_ Percy said.

"Yeah, yeah," Robin muttered, in fake irritation now. "Maintain radio silence from here on out, until you get back up here again. You don't know who's listening. Robin out."

Barbara turned to look at him. "Someone might be listening?"

Robin blinked, typing into the computer. A password screen popped up. "These places are getting smart. They'll bug their own systems and rooms to transmit somewhere else. I'm speaking more of us than them, keep the conversation to a minimum."

Barbara frowned and turned away, looking back at the guards Robin had pinned to the floor. They were motionless and dead silent, their visors keeping her from seeing their eyes. She shivered a little at the thought and turned from them, now. Back to her computer. Back to rules and sensibility. She started going through the code, scowling as their systems own protections began to fire back at her, bypassing her.

Her mind flew faster and then—"Aha!" she cheered, throwing her fists up into the air.

Robin glanced over. "You're in?"

"I'm on their sensors, heat and motion, and their doors. Nothing can get in unless I give it the say so," she said cheerily, red hair bouncing as she moved up and down in the chair.

"Perfect, I'm downloading the files I can on Level Five. I can't seem to find the Section 16 part yet," he said, looking the screen up and down. "Shit. Damn. They probably have the other half somewhere else. I'm such an idiot."

And just then, Robin's idiocy manifests itself as blaring red lights and high strung alarm. The two of them jump. Robin quickly unhooks his USB drive.

"You've got their communication lines open?"

Barbara looked down at her computer and then glanced at the door. "Yeah, yeah. I can't hack into anything JLA, Robin, I'm not that good—."

"Yeah, you are," Robin snapped back, though it wasn't intentional. "I'd give you the codes but we don't have time. Open up transmissions. Now!"

Barbara whirled on the computer, hunching over it as if it were a lifeline. Maybe it was. This was life or death. Robin snapped his sword out from behind his back holster, underneath his cape. The doors slid open, an override code they hadn't bypassed yet, and several guards paraded into the room. Robin lunged at him. He didn't aim anywhere lethal, cutting at feet and towards places where the men and woman would lose their balance or footing. And it worked. The guards couldn't aim their weapons with him so close by, flipping over and under and around them.

He leapt up on one woman, twisting over her should and bring down his full weight on another guard. They slammed into the floor, Robin rolling away. He slid his sword up through the air, causing another guard to stumble back with a cry. He slipped under another's legs, bringing his forehead up underneath one of the guards and then round housed the man into a wall.

He felt a cut on his right leg, one of the men dropping their gun and bringing out a knife.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a sword fight?" Robin asked, his voice high with glee as he slammed the fuller of the sword into the mans wrist. The knife clattered to the ground and Robin moved in to smash the butt of the sword into the mans face. He crumbled to the ground, falling on top of one of his comrades.

And then someone grabbed him from behind. He cried out indignantly, flailing his legs as the things strong arms wrapped around his torso. His sword clattered to the ground.

Barbara whirled in her chair. "Robin!" She reached for her fire spoke, but Robin shook his head.

"Keep going! The—argh— the League needs this info!"

But the redhead ignored him. The man that grabbed him was squeezing tightly and then roared. Not a man. Monster. Or, something, because the arms that held him were distinctly human and definitely not a monsters. But it felt wrong. Maybe it was demigod part of him saying that whatever this was, it wasn't unnatural.

Barbara lunged at them both, sticking the fire spoke into the creatures legs. It howled in pain, dropping Robin. He rolled away from them, grabbing his sword, and then turned back on it.

It was strange, with grey skin and horns sticking from its head. It's body and face were almost human, but it was a little too large. It's nose was flat and squat, like a bulls, and it's eyes were deep blue. It reeked of science and magic. An experimentation. What were these people doing? Had this thing been human once?

Barbara pulled her spoke from the creatures leg and it collapsed to one knee on the floor. It's finger elongated into claws and almost immediately it began to change shape. It's face twisted into something more gruesome and eyes popped up around it's cheeks and throat. The horns twisted around it's body, pushing through grey leathery skin.

"Oh my god," Barbara gasped.

"Go back," Robin instructed. "I'll deal with this." Whatever it was, it wasn't human anymore. But that didn't keep Robin from trying. As it lunged for him, he rolled to the side and cut its heel. The thing screamed.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "Do you know where you are? Do you have a name?"

The creature raked it's claws through the air, lunging to where Robin was crouched on the floor. He leapt into the air, planting a foot firmly on the creature's head to leap off. It twisted, grabbing his ankle, and then slammed him into a wall. He stumbled away from the fist aimed for his head. It cracked the concrete.

"Do you know what happened to you?" Robin asked, hoping desperately to appeal to whatever humanity was left in this creature.

Its grey skin sagged a little and the creature fell onto all fours. Drool dripped from its mouth and its teeth grew larger. It screamed at him. Robin covered his face as spit came flying and then he jumped out of the way of the creature, raking his sword across it's back. Gold dust flitted from the wound.

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself.

The thing buckled, it's not-so-human face scrunching up in pain. Robin walked back a few steps, keeping his sword poised in front of him. The creature hissed at him, its many eyed face twisting like a mirage. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't natural. It was sent to attack, to kill. And Robin had to keep Barbara safe so she could get the League's systems open. He had to keep himself alive, and Percy and Annabeth. No one was dying today.

The beast lunged.

Robin rolled under it, thrusting his sword up into its abdomen. With one final screech, it slammed into the opposite wall. But it didn't fade into gold dust. Blood leaked from the sword wound and from it flittered little gold lights, just like the dust, into the air. Robin stood up, shaking.

"Got it!" Barbara shouted.

 _"_ _This Martian Man-Hunter, please state your name and how you got onto this line."_

Barbara covers her mouth in glee, looking back at Robin with wide eyes. Robin leans forward. "Man-Hunter, this is Robin reporting. I'm at CADMUS facility #062825. We've recovered information of SEC 16 LV 5."

There's brief static over the line. _"Robin? How did you—."_

"No time for questions, sorry. We're sending you the information we have now." Robin slipped his USB drive into the port of the computer and began to transmit the files up to Watchtower. In the distance, the two of them can hear footsteps.

They had keep those guards out, but they didn't have time. Robin needed to ensure that those files they had were transmitted out before they were captured or anything worse happened. If that wasn't the only creature they had like this, than Robin wasn't sure what he would do. He couldn't risk anything happening to the group. There was still no word on Percy and Annabeth, and honestly Robin hadn't even thought about them since the guards had arrived to keep them off the computer.

 _"_ _What is your exact location, Robin? I'm not seeing it."_

Robin blinked. "Illinois."

"Robin," Barbara hissed. "More are coming."

 _"_ _Who is—?"_

"No time!" Robin yelled, and as the computer dinged that it had finished transmitting, he shut it down. He snapped out four explosive birdarangs from his belt, flinging them at the large monitors. One of the scientists, who'd awoken upon hearing all the noise, flailed as Robin and Barbara ducked away into the vents.

"No!"

A blast of strong heat and wind whipped over them, Robin throwing his cape over Babs's shoulders. Electricity cackled around them and Robin could still feel the heat from the fire. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah. You?" Barbara peeked up around his cape, eyeing the room warily.

"I'm fine. Sore, but fine." His head was still spinning from being slammed into the wall. "Got a headache, but we need to keep moving." He turned slightly, shifting to let her go in front of him. She crawled ahead. She had a little bit of ash on her face, which was bright red. Her hair was mussed up and tangled, but she looked alright. He probably didn't look any better, either.

He touched his hand to the comm. "Robin here. Where are you?"

A cackle of silence and then… " _It's Annabeth. We're hiding but making our way back to the loading dock. What triggered the alarms?"_

Dick scowled. He still didn't know. Maybe he tripped something in their codes, or maybe Barbara did. It was possible one of their scientists had pressed a button alerting their security that there were intruders, but he just didn't know. It didn't matter. They got their information. Well, half of it. But it was possible the League could figure out enough to stop what they could from the information Robin had sent them.

"Not sure yet," he said audibly. "Could've been anything. ETA?"

 _"_ _Another minute or so,"_ Percy said over the link. _"You two are safe?"_

Barbara touched her hand to her own comm., smiling smugly. "We're survivors. A few scratches. That's all."

 _"_ _Heard an explosion?"_

"That was me," Robin admitted, blushing a little as he and Barbara squeezed out of the vent shaft. "Had to destroy their work. Hopefully they made some backups. Or you know, hopefully they didn't."

 _"_ _All this talking over the link will only attract more monsters. We're almost to the hanger. Got something for you,"_ and then Annabeth shut off her comm.

"Damnit," Robin cursed, "We need to keep talking!"

"She's right though," Barbara said as she rounded a corner. "You three all here isn't good. At least from what I've heard. And sending up a signal and broadcasting it. Not the best?"

"Stupid magic," he said with a scowl. "Ugh, now I sound like Batman."

Barbara stifled a laugh, slowing down to a walk. "Do you hear that?"

"Footsteps," Robin agreed. "Stay down."

They crouched low, Barbara clutching the still-in-action fire spoke and Robin holding his sword in front of him. Two sets of footsteps, one heavier than the other. Robin held up a fist and then 1… 2… 3. They both lunged.

Annabeth's dagger met Barbara's iron fire spoke.

"Oh gods," the blonde said, pulling back instantly. "Sorry."

Barbara smiled at her and swung the fire spoke around in her fingers in a similar fashion that Annabeth did. The older girl must've been teaching her— it couldn't have been that easy with such a heavy weapon.

"Hey, strangers," Robin joked. "Funny meeting you here."

Percy smiled down at him, removing the visor from the guard helmet. "We can talk later, right? I mean, we should leave."

"Yes!" Robin said, "Leaving. Sounds like a plan. This way."

They walked down the hall, following the hologlove's map of the building. If they could get back to their hanger, than they could at least escape from their hole in the fence— unless that was what had alerted them to an intruders presence. At the very least, they could fight their way back through. But they had to make it to the hanger first.

The red lights were still rotating, casting the halls into a strange surreal red. The shadows changed and flung around the hall with the odd lights. They danced strangely, and Robin was reminded of the neon lights of Gotham. It was an odd sensation. He didn't want Cadmus to remind him of home. Ahead of them was the door that led to the hanger. The space opened wide, with the columns arching above them. He hadn't paused last time to look around. The place was strangely surreal, like the lights.

"This is it," Robin said, opening the door. He brought his sword out, but the hanger was still in shadow. Strange. He walked through, the group walking in directly behind him.

"Is this weird to you?"

"I do believe we underestimated you."

The flickered on. Around them were several dozen security guards, all pointing their guns at them. Two scientists stood by them, one that Robin recognized from his dream. He didn't look hazy now, but his pupils were wide open. In fact, that had been the case with the others too. In the center was Prometheus. He stood there in his suit, perfectly poised. Aside from his scar and the ponytail, he looked like any old student on their way to an internship.

Annabeth's hands flew out to both Robin and Barbara's chest. Robin looked down and then up at her before over at Prometheus.

"What are you doing here?" Robin snapped, his hands curling into fists. He clutched his sword tighter, moving it forward.

Prometheus tilted his head a little, eyes focusing on the weapon. "What an interesting sword you have there. That has a… long history. I don't suppose you've learned it."

Robin snapped his mouth shut, refusing to answer.

"Why are you doing this?" Annabeth asked. Percy moved forward to stand in front of all of them, holding Riptide out.

Prometheus ignored her, turning to Percy instead. "Perseus Jackson. How interesting to find you here. I would've thought Tartarus was enough for you."

To Robin's surprise, Percy said nothing. He simply lifted his chin and Riptide higher in the air in defense.

"No reply?"

Percy scowled, his expression darkening. "I didn't survive by myself."

"No, you didn't," Prometheus sighed. "I don't understand why you're doing this. What we're working toward, what we are doing… it is better than anything the gods could build, better than the Titans. Than the Primordials; this goes beyond anything I have ever seen. Why do you fight it?"

"What are you planning?" Robin bit. "Who is your employer?"

Prometheus smiled softly at Robin, almost fondly. The boy shivered, pulling his face away and glaring down into the floor.

"A being greater than even anything Athena could conceive. Greater than the gods, than anything living on this wretched planet. It deserves what is coming, the greatness that is being bestowed upon you," Prometheus said. "Join us. I have thought through every possible action. You cannot win this war. You cannot find beat me."

"All villains say that," Robin snapped before he could help it. "You and all the others. Zod, Ares, hell, even Joker. You've all thought things through, you've all convinced yourselves you're unbeatable. But you know what?"

"What?" Prometheus snarled, finally losing his cool in a way Percy had never seen. "You have what? Hope?"

"No," Robin said. "Even titans and gods can be wrong sometimes."

Prometheus lifted his chin up, the air around him almost growing denser. "Do you know little bird? Do you know how to fight a war?"

Robin stilled.

The titan smiled. "Then I will show you."

* * *

 ** _To be continued..._**

 **Hey guys! So I'm opening up my tumblr to prompts and stories! Feel free to send me stuff to practice writing, I will gladly accept pretty much anything. There are ships I won't do, and I've stopped doing characterxreader stories.**

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	14. The Goddess

**Illinois**

 **CADMUS Labs**

* * *

Prometheus strode only a few steps forward, keeping his back straight and face impassive. Robin felt Annabeth grip his tunic, pulling the material tighter in an almost protective stance. He rocked back a little and steeled himself, but the Titan was still almost football field lengths away, still so out of reach.

He tilted his head to the side. "I will always win," the Titan snapped, "I choose my sides deliberately. I win."

"Says the Titan who lost in the Titan War and then didn't bother showing up for the war against the Giants. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're a coward," Annabeth snapped, surprising both Robin and Percy. She let go of Dick's tunic, stabbing her small dagger at Prometheus as she stepped forward. The guards all lifted their guns, but Prometheus held up his hand.

"I won't downgrade your achievements, Annabeth Chase. Know Thy Enemy. However, I think you speak a little too freely. I have seen too much to be a coward, I've known too much," Prometheus said, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "Knowledge is power, Annabeth, you of all people should know this; you're the daughter of the goddess of knowledge."

"Wisdom," Annabeth snapped immediately. "She's the goddess of wisdom. There's a difference. Learn it." And as she said that, she spun and threw her dagger directly into the light switch by the door. It sparked dangerously and then the lights blew out with a cackle. Immediately, Dick grabbed Percy and threw them to the ground. He saw Annabeth barely grab Barbara. Shots began flying over their heads.

Prometheus was shouting something, and then Robin slunk over behind the loading crates, dragging his brother along with him. The wood splintered off around them, cracking. Robin held his sword in front of him, but lowered it to the ground in thought.

"You think Titans are susceptible to smoke?"

Percy blinked. "They have eyes?"

"Good enough," Robin chirped, and then threw out several smoke pellets. He touched an ear to his comm. " _Head toward the exit, I'm going to open the doors."_

In the distance, he heard Barbara scream. "Copy!"

"Subtle," Percy said behind him, taking out Riptide. "This won't help me, _σκατά._ "

Robin spun out of his hiding spot, slamming his foot into the nearest guards knee and completely downing him. He hunkered down toward the lift doors. There was a small control panel on the far right side of the room, and he was completely having to cross the gunfire to get to it. He felt a shot whizz pass his ear and really wished Superboy was there to cover him. That'd be great. Robin flipped over another guard, who was spinning wildly in position, too scared to move with the combined smoke and the darkness. He slammed his fingers into the man's neck, feeling him immediately tense up, and then grabbed his hair and dragged his leg into the man's knee. He was down in an instant.

Robin spun back around, bringing his leg down on the back of another guard, and then flipped over to the control panel. He wrenched the handle down just as a bullet shot the wall next to him, forcing him to turn the other way and pray, pray, pray that no more would come. As the handle clicked into the place, the doors began to open. The building was filled with a large rumbling, and light flooded in where the doors opened. The smoke almost was completely dissipated, filtering the bright flood lights before being swept away by the Titan.

Prometheus was still in the center. His eyes glowed a dangerous gold.

Robin snapped out his sword. The guards that were remaining, that Dick hadn't taken out or even Annabeth and Barbara, hefted their guns up and pointed them around. Robin slunk back behind another crate, peeking over to watch. In the distance, he saw Annabeth and Barbara's moving forms. They were grey shadows through the remaining fog but were making their way toward the exit. Good.

He moved around to another crate, throwing out his projectiles and knocking several guards out.

Prometheus shouted loudly into the warehouse. "Don't hide, boy!"

So Dick didn't. He moved out, jumping to just a few meters away from the being.

The Titan moved to lift his hand but Dick sprang across the distance between them, moving faster than he ever had before. Just as the Titan was about to strike, a knowing smile on his face, Robin dropped to the ground and slid beneath him. His sword cut through the neat pants the Titan wore, and through his ankle. As he pulled away and sprinted toward the exit, the Titan howled in pain. Dick didn't even bother to turn around as he followed the three other members of his little team.

The floodlights blinded him as they sprinted across the pavement, yelling and gunshots firing off around them. Robin dodged several men in uniform before he made it to the grass, shoving Barbara into the hole in the fence. She grunted as the metal scraped her arms but pulled herself through and took off.

"Lose the comms!" Robin yells as he follows behind Annabeth. She ditches it the second the words leave his mouth, and she's grabbing Barbara and pulling her behind her, tugging them further into the waist-high grass and out of the prying eye of the lights.

Percy was next and then Dick shoved his way through the metal, through down several exploding bird-a-rangs, and then bailed out of there, sprinting through the grass. Some several hundred meters away, they found themselves on a road.

In the distance, the wailing sirens and flashing of the lights could be seen. Dick had chucked his comm. out the moment he'd crossed that fence and completely shut down his hologlove too.

"We need to keep moving," Annabeth huffed between breaths. "Far. They're going to bring in things even demigods can't fight. And with what we saw…"

"Magic might not be good enough," Percy agreed grimly. He turned back to the two younger kids, his hand resting on Dick's shoulder. "Are you two okay?"

Robin huffed and put his hands on his hips, grinning weakly. "I should be asking you two rookies."

Annabeth scoffed. "Rookies. I've been doing this for five years."

Robin's grin widened. "Same here."

"Enough banter, please," Barbara said, "can we move? My… my side." They girl didn't even have a chance before Percy and Dick were at her side, gently lowering her to the ground. Dick pushed the awkwardness away as he lifted his friends shirt up and gently touched her side. She hissed a deep breath and Dick frowned with worry.

"Bullet grazed you, but pretty bad. It's still deep. You weren't shot, but you're gonna be a little bruised and in pain. I'm gonna wrap it, okay?" he said, gently lowering her sweater and looking the girl over.

Annabeth was holding her hand, smiling down at her. "You're strong. Dick's gonna wrap it." She looked up at Dick, her face a little disbelieving. He couldn't tell if it was because he was just that all around a well-rounded person and was medically trained, or if she couldn't believe that Barbara had gotten shot. Did demigods ever have to deal with guns? Probably not.

Dick looked around. "We can't do it here, they're gonna spread out and look for us. Hopefully, my little stunt with Promie brought us some time. He sounded pretty bad, and I only hit his ankle."

Annabeth hefted Barbara up into her arms with Percy's help, the two somewhat shouldering her together. They stood ready to follow Dick, and they slowly made their way through the grass back to the car. Back to civilization. Back toward the west.

Dick hoped the Titan would clear and building and the League could get there. Part of him wanted to stay in the line of trees in the distance, but he didn't. They needed to keep moving, and Barbara was hurt. Dick needed to get back so they could help her. She was more important than the League, and the mission. He focused on that as they walked.

"You damaged him pretty bad, I've never heard a Titan or god yell like that from getting cut," Annabeth said dryly.

"What can I say?" Dick shrugged, but it was half-hearted. "I'm a heavy hitter."

"You're like a 105 lbs wet, Dick," Percy said dryly. "And children of Poseidon don't even get wet."

Dick had half a mind to shove his brother if it weren't for the fact that he was holding Barbara. The girl was grinning weakly at all of them, and her sweater was a little stained, but she was holding out. She looked no paler than usual, and her bright eyes weren't unfocused. She was staring intently ahead of them. Dick had to resist the urge to turn back every once in a while and look at her, just to check. But he knew she was okay.

"Going back to the topic at hand," Dick said, "I'm surprised that we got out that easy."

"You call that easy?" Annabeth asked. "Getting shot at, fighting a Titan, and sprinting across an open yard with people firing at you?"

"Normally the entire place explodes," Dick said casually, "so I'd call this a win."

"Gods," the girl muttered, squeezing Barbara's shoulder a little too tightly as she pulled her up. She and Percy were almost a whole head apart, and he towered over her. Sharing someone leaning on both their shoulders made Percy have to bend his knees and walk. She was starting to just think it might be easier if they put the girl on his shoulders.

But then the car appeared in the distance. The yelling had since faded behind them, and they all trudged in and sat down in it. Shoulder Barbara, Annabeth squeezed both of them through the car door. The girl winced and wheezed a little as they went in, but she sat willfully calm as they all finally relaxed. It felt so strange, doing what they just had and then sitting on Bruce Wayne's fancy old sports car.

It was almost like they were regular teenagers out for a spin. And then Dick laughed, and she too found herself giggling.

"I can't believe we did that!" she exclaims, her voice still low as if speaking too loud would bring attention to them.

"I'm a war hero now," Barbara says as they all grin, and then they're reminded that they need to move and get her back. She's hurt and they're sitting there laughing. Percy is the one at the front seat, and he turns on the car and they peel down the road at breakneck speed. She can tell he wants to be out of there, and so she doesn't say anything as they pass several stop signs. She's not exactly known for following all the rules when it came to quests either.

Like the time she told the cab driver to keep her credit card for the Lotus Casino with an infinite amount of cash on it. She should've kept that. It could've been handy if it didn't track her either. There had to be some kind of magic they could use to keep the monsters off them— but it was their curse, an unwarranted burden placed on them at birth.

Dick pipes up, directing Percy to take a ramp onto the interstate. Annabeth frowns and leans forward.

"Where are we going? This isn't the direction of the house?"

"Chances are we could find monsters waiting there, or Prometheus. They're employing mortal tactics now and we can't risk them finding us," Dick explained, twisting around in his seat. His mask is still on his face, and it bothers Annabeth she can't see his eyes. She doesn't know what he's feeling, but she supposes that that's the point.

"Our bags," she stresses, "What about those?"

"Trunk," Dick said, "I already grabbed everything."

"Dick, you have to tell us these things," Annabeth said, her brow furrowing. "This isn't that big of a deal but I'd like to know what the plan is. We need to get Barbara back to the house—."

"I'm fine," the girl whispered. "We can keep going. We'll stop at a motel or something, right Dick?"

She said it a little forcibly and Dick kind of swallowed and nodded in agreement. "Right," he said, pulling back around and sinking lower into his chair. Annabeth frowned in thought, moving to rest her hand on Barbara red hair. The girl hummed and Annabeth smiled.

She could see that Dick clearly had issues with leadership— not with authority itself, but with being a leader. The kid was like his brother; he was a natural leader. He had a confidence, an ease, about him that it had taken even Percy a while to develop. Her boyfriend still found himself uncomfortable with leadership, with being the one in charge. Anyone who got hurt was under his care. She didn't know what Dick did as Robin, but that meant he worked with Batman, a hero well-respected in both the mortal and the magical world.

He couldn't be an easy person to work with. In fact, Annabeth imagined that Dick had to strive to be a leader like Batman. Was he pushed too hard? He hadn't even known he was a demigod for very long and Dick already had had a difficult life, of heartache and pain. Their talk in the car had been eye-opening for her. She wondered what kind of a life a hero led. It was true that she couldn't often talk to most mortals her own age. She didn't know music or books. Her job was working as the official architect of Olympus and designing monuments to gods and beings older than the country she was born in. Older than most of the countries in the world.

Even though Dick lived in the quote-unquote "real world", how much of his time did he actually spend living in it? He hadn't had a favorite band or song. Did he read anything other than for class?

Annabeth leaned back against the seat, worried for the boy in front of her and the girl next to her. Behind them, a bright light lit up the sky. Cars around them all stopped, and Percy slammed on the brake. The car spun to the side and all four of them, even Barbara, looked out the window to the east. A large orange light protruded into the dark atmosphere and then faded into the background. Dick immediately cursed in some other language Annabeth had never heard before and then spun around.

"They blew up the lab," he cursed. "That means anything the League could've found is—."

"Useless," Percy muttered, turning the wheel and getting the car back on track. "You got the information to them, right?"

"Hacked the Leagues codes," Barbara said before Dick could reply. "They got it. Talked to Martian Manhunter."

"How's your side feeling?" Percy asked, wincing as he looked back at Barbara briefly. The car swerved a little to the right and Annabeth hissed his name.

"Fine. Okay. I'm holding it," the girl sighed. "I'm not as tired. Keep driving, I'll be okay."

Percy didn't reply as they sped forward past lights and midnight towns. Annabeth settled to keeping the girl talking and the two discussed mundane things. Barbara's school, her dad's job at the GCPD, living in Gotham. Annabeth talked about her dad's job as a professor. It went unmentioned what happened there, but Annabeth knew that if they were in a more private setting she'd be more willing to discuss it. Barbara never once mentioned her mother, so there seemed to be a small agreement there between them.

As the night continued, their conversation delved to talking about the quest, to discuss exactly what they were, and typically what they entailed. Annabeth found herself reminiscing about her first quest, back when she and Percy had been twelve, and enjoyed talking about how the two had met. They talked about magic, what little Annabeth knew, and how Gotham sort of had a magic to it in little ways.

And then Annabeth found herself listening to stories about the city, about how in the East Glen park there was a statue that almost seemed to change with the seasons. There was a bridge by the school that seemed to go on for miles, even if it was only supposed to cross over a small river from the bay. The cities docks were expansive and long and never seemed to end, even if half of them weren't used. The Batman used to be an urban legend, a myth Barbara remembered hearing about from kids in her school when she still went to the public school by her house. Bats and owls roamed the city; they were myths that leaped from shadows and rested in dark corners.

It rained more days than the sun shined, and even the days the sun was shining it was still partly cloudy. Heavy fog was common and the buildings rose above it all and faded like blue and grey watercolors. The way she described the city made Annabeth think of old grey paintings. Everything was heavy and grey and blue and dark. The architecture was spiked towers and made of neon lights, with gargoyles and ancient gothic architecture looming over a modern city that seemed to drag it back down to the swamp it had been built on. It almost made her want to visit the city less if the dark greyness that Barbara described were anything to go by.

But it was changing, slightly. The weather was something that would always be the same, but the color had slowly started to find its way back to the city. Barbara had mentioned quietly under the cover of her sweatshirt that the circus had brought a lot of life to the city, but even then Gotham had managed to corrupt that. Annabeth found herself looking at that boy in the passenger seat. He'd fallen asleep a long time ago, they'd silently checked when they were discussing the city.

"The circus, that's how he met Bruce Wayne right?"

Barbara nodded. "Yeah, he was there that night. Saw it happen. I remember when my dad came back. It was really late, but I'd stayed up because we were supposed to have dinner together. He didn't get back until almost two in the morning. He walked in the door and just leaned against it and ran his hand over his face. I was sitting on the couch, just watching. He was crying, and I'd never seen my dad cry like that, but he was crying and just gestured for me to come over. So I did, and he hugged me. I didn't even know what happened."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Did he tell you?"

The girl nodded, turning a little in her chair to better face the blonde. She rested her feet up on Dick's chair. "The next morning he sat me down at breakfast. He said, 'Barbara, I need you to understand what happened last night.' And I just said okay. He said, 'A young boy lost his whole family last night because someone wanted money. I want you to know, that I can't promise anything to you. My job means I might get hurt, alright? Sometimes we lose things, things that we can't replace. People are greedy and mean and are terrible people and it might mean that I get hurt.' I told him I knew that, that I knew he couldn't. We never talked about it after that, not even when I met Dick at school and we became friends a year later."

Annabeth smiled in thought. "He's right. Sometimes you lose things you can't ever replace, but you can make them up again. You can't have what you had before, but you can make something new."

"You think he's done that?" Barbara asked quietly. "You think he's done that with Bruce?"

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders. "You've known him longer than I have, Babs."

The girl frowned, sinking almost lower into her chair. "Maybe. I know he's happy there, but he's always so hesitant about calling him… dad. I could never pinpoint their relationship. It makes a bit more sense now that I know he's, you know, Robin. I always looked at them as father and son."

"I think Dick seems to think that," Annabeth agreed. "Just from his face when he doesn't think we're looking. He seems like he's missing someone."

Barbara hummed. "Hopefully he's really asleep, or this is about to be one awkward quest."

Percy ran his hand over Dick's face, waving it wildly before placing it back on the wheel. "He's definitely asleep."

"I forgot you were here too," Barbara admitted, her face glowing red as they passed under a neon sign.

Percy shrugged in the front seat. "I'm just the driver. Don't mind me."

Barbara halfheartedly shoved her foot at the back of Dick's chair, and the boy the laughed lightly. Silence fell again, until Annabeth noticed Barbara straighten quickly.

"Percy," the girl said, "I think we're being followed."

Annabeth whirled around, her hair hitting her face, but could only see the lights of the car behind them. It looked like a truck, possibly white or some other light color. It was uncomfortably close. She quickly sunk down into her chair.

"What do I do?" Percy asked, pressing down on the gas a little. Annabeth peeked over the seats. The truck had sped up too.

"How'd you know?" she asked.

Barbara leaned forward so she was between Dick and Percy's seats. "I just got my permit, so naturally my cop of a dad decided to show me how to spot a tail. Turn on your blinker to go left, but then head right."

"She's right," Dick's voice sounded, "We need to get off the highway."

The sound of the blinker echoed around the car, and just as the truck turned on its own blinker and began to switch to the left lane, Percy swerved right.

"Take this exit!" Barbara called, and Percy turned the wheel and slammed on the break. The car's wheels squeak and then they were speeding up the ramp and into an intersection.

"Do I—?"

"Blow through it!" Dick snapped, and Percy ran straight through the red light, spinning the car around the intersection as horns blared around them.

"Whoops," the son of Poseidon said, trailing down the road at 80 miles an hour. They all sat with their breaths held and their heads turning to look for the white truck. And then suddenly sirens blared behind them. Red and blue lit up the inside of the car, and Annabeth let out a string of colorful Greek words as she spun and stared at the cop car.

"It could be a monster," Percy said as he kept on going.

"We can't risk it," Dick shook his head, "Not if it's a real cop. Then we turn this into a chase." Then he looked down at his uniform. "Oh shit." Quickly, he removed his mask and threw it to the back with his cape. Annabeth stuffed them under Percy's seat. He removed his computers and threw them to the floor. "There a—?"

Annabeth chucked a sweater at him and he quickly threw it on.

"Been there done that," Percy muttered as the car began to decelerate. They stopped outside of a half-lit up convenience store, the sign flickering from Shelly's Convenience Store to "hell s Store". Around them were beat up shops and wide open streets. Cars sped by them, all slowing down to watch what was gonna happen.

Slowly, Percy rolled down the window as the cop approached. It was a skinny man with a greying goatee and sharp eyes. He leaned over the window and peered into the car. His eyes got squinty and he let his flashlight burn theirs.

He turned to Percy, straightening up. "Son, do you know how fast you were going?"

Percy's face, which had returned to its neutral place of 'perpetually brooding', stared at the cop in a deadpan. "I have no idea, Officer."

The cop snorted. "80 miles per hour, son. Do you know what the speed limit is in this area?"

Percy's eyes snapped to the front of the car and then back to the cop. "I don't know."

"35," the cop said, his voice dripping with a long shift. He pulled out a small notepad. "Now, can you do math? Or would that be too difficult for you? How much were you going over?"

Before Percy could say anything, Dick leaned forward with a small grin. "It was my fault officer! I was egging him on."

The officer leaned back, his eyes narrowing so much they were almost completely closed. "That so?"

Dick nodded seriously. "Oh yeah, you know. My dad let us borrow the car and, well, it goes fast so—."

"Should've expected as much from your kind. Did Daddy really let you borrow the car?" the cop said casually.

As he said it, Dick's face dropped its easy calmness. "You can call him. His name is Bruce Wayne."

"That supposed to impress me? I've never heard of him, get out of the car. Both of you," the cop demanded.

Dick sighed dramatically. "Listen, Mister, uh, sorry, Mr. Langstrumpf. I'm sure you've heard of WayneTech. It's kind of on that little device you used to figure out our speed, and given that we were, allegedly, going 45 over the speed limit you'd think you would know your tech."

The cop blinked.

"And who supplies it," Dick continued, his voice growing colder. "We're just a couple of kids messing around with my dad's stuff. I'll be sure to make sure Dan here goes the speed limit from now on given that it was my fault in the first place."

"You were going 45—."

Dick waved his hand through the air. "45, yeah, yeah, allegedly. But you might want to check on the guy who currently just went by going, you know, at least 90." And just at that moment, a car sped by them going far faster than they had been themselves. The cop stuttered for a moment and then jabbed his finger at them.

"This isn't over! Stay here!" he sprinted back to his car, sirens wailing, and he zipped by them after the Mustang.

Dick threw back his arm and gave Barbara a fist pump. She lifted her arm up and weakly jabbed his hand, and he would've smiled if he wasn't worried too much about her. He turned back to Percy, his lips drawing into a thin line. "Pull out and back East. We're going to have to take some backroads to keep the cops off our tail. He'll be back."

Percy shoved the car into drive, pulling out in front of a small Mazda. It honked it's horn loudly and Percy waved angrily back, switching over to the left lane and pulling around a sharp u-turn just as the light turned yellow. "I don't like this," he said, "Wouldn't it be better to be in plain sight?"

Dick's hand ran along the leather of the door, and he stared out beyond it as they turned onto Route 58 heading west. "The cops could be an issue, plus cameras. You guys wouldn't have to worry about those before, but Promie over there had someone tailing us. And that wasn't their only facility. I bet you they can get access to cameras."

"All of them?" Annabeth asked incredulously. "There's no way."

Dick shrugged nonchalantly, turning back to face her. "Batman and I can access almost every single camera in Gotham City in terms of watching street corners and figuring where someone is going. And that's just from the Batcomputer. The Watchtower is even more powerful, and Lex Luthor has his hands in Cadmus. He's not against doing illegal things so I bet you he has access to any camera he wants. It'll take time, obviously, but it's very possible."

Annabeth frowned at the thought. He wasn't wrong. They'd just been in a facility where there was a possibility that humans could make clones. Did the gods know about all this? Were they aware of, really, how far humanity had come since they'd been given the flame? Clones and computers and technology? Superheroes that weren't children of demigods, but that were from other planets and worlds whose DNA was so different and strange some of them might not even be called human anymore?

Because while Annabeth and other demigods all appeared human, it was difficult to muster that they were, technically, a different species altogether. Half-god and half-human. But the gods didn't look at them like that. They were just human enough to be different, just enough to be mortal. But they were heroes nonetheless. Annabeth was done pretending she wasn't good enough.

Humanity had come far. She was proud to be a part of it.

* * *

 **Outside Camp Half-Blood**

 **Early Morning, Eastern Seaboard**

* * *

Reyna did not like the feeling the in the air. It was heavy, like a dense, thick fog. And it wrapped around her and her Legions like a rope around an innocent man's neck. She stood on the top of the hill, peering through some trees toward the mass of Prometheus's army. Frank stood next to her, his sweater drooping from the heavy wetness in the air. He was holding his spear in front of him, one knee forward, and looking every bit like the Praetor he was. Reyna was proud. He'd done well so far, and he'd more than fit into the role. It was taking him time, but no good leader would rush into things.

Maybe this would be good practice.

"Chiron said we'd have guests, right? Like people that are gonna help us? We don't have nearly enough people," Frank asked, his voice a bare whisper as they sunk lower into the trees.

"Members from the League," Reyna said, "The Justice League. They're to help us prepare for this battle."

Frank let out a low whistle. "Right, yeah. Okay. The League. Wow."

Reyna frowned, watching a monster in the distance trip onto a neighboring tent. She turned back to Frank. "I do hope they aren't underwhelming. Admittedly, I was unaware of their existence for most of my childhood."

Frank nodded. "Most heroes work here in the US. I think Canada's just too… mundane for them. But, they're good. And they won't be. Anyone the League sends will be fine—."

"Praetors!"

The two turned to look. A girl from the Eighth sprinted up to them. A daughter of Mars, like Frank. Her armor clanked in the early morning dawn and she stood straight as she pulled to a stop. "Our guests. They're here."

"Thank you," Reyna said, nodding her head. "Fetch my dogs to meet me. It's time we greet our guests from the League."

They followed the girl down the hill and past several large plots of lands. Fortunately, Reyna had had the farmers go on a nice vacation as the Roman legion had descended on the Long Island Sound. It would have to do for the time being, and the city of New Rome would pay for the damages. The farm they'd acquired backed up into a large woods, a protected area of land that they'd stuck their main tents into.

What she did not expect to see was the bottom of a red floating ship hovering just above the military tent. As she and Frank walked toward it, a small hole opened up and a green girl with a blue cape and a boy with dark skin and blonde hair floated out. They landed on the ground in front of them, hands up as swords and spears pointed at their faces.

Reyna held up her fist. "I expect you are our guests?"

"My apologies," the boy with dark skin said. He towered over her, and his hands and feet were webbed, and he had gills at his neck. An Atlantean. "We expected to arrive sooner but there were some complications." He glanced back at the ship as if that explained their complications.

"Apology accepted. My name is Reyna, and this is Frank. We're the Praetors of the Roman Twelfth Legion Fulminata," Reyna introduced, directing the Atlantean's attention to Frank and the army around him.

He held his hand out to hers. "I am Kaldur'ahm, but you may refer to me as Kaldur. This is Miss Martian."

"I go by M'gann," the green girl said, her lips pulling back into a wide smile. She gave Reyna a small wave.

Reyna shook Kaldur's hand and grinned a little at the green girl. "And the rest of your team?"

"In the Bioship. The League sent us to aid you in this battle. I fear that this is… unknown territory for us," Kaldur shrugged. "We may be more of a hindrance than an aid."

Reyna frowned, looking both Kaldur and M'gann down. The green girl fidgeted and her eyes bounced around. Up to the ship, back to Reyna, to Kaldur. The Atlantean was stoically staring at Reyna and Frank, his eyes, a strange almost clear green, bouncing back and forth between them. "Do any of you have formal military training?"

"I do, with my King in Posidonis," Kaldur confirmed. "The others not so much, but they can follow orders. Is there a battle plan?"

Reyna glanced back at Frank, and the son of Mars cleared his throat. "We should go into the tent. Would the rest of your team like to join us?"

Kaldur shook his head. "They will know."

Reyna found that hard to believe, but guided M'gann and Kaldur into the tent, closing the flaps of the canvas behind them. Inside was a long singular table with a layout of the surrounding area, including their camp, the Titans, and the Greek camp. Several chairs sat around them, along with a small CD player playing music and a small snack table. Argentum and Aurum stood at the table, waiting for her. The dogs made their way over to Reyna, sitting by her side. They did nothing at the sight of Kaldur and Miss Martian, thankfully, and only stared.

Reyna found that a good sign. Neither of the visiting guests noted the dogs, but M'gann did tilt her head oddly at them as if trying to listen to something.

"Is this the plan?" Kaldur asked, leaning over the table.

"Are you really an Atlantean?" Frank blurted out, looking Kaldur up and down. The two were almost the same height, with Frank leaning just a little bit taller than the dark-skinned boy.

Kaldur smiled and laughed a little. "I am. I was not aware you were aware of us? Most Surface Dwellers don't recognize us."

Frank grinned, running a hand through his hair. "Wow. Yeah, I know that but… wow. And you. You're… a Martian?"

M'gann grinned and Reyna found the smile a little too practiced. Too warm. Maybe the Martian girl stood in front of the mirror and practiced. "Yup, straight from Mars!"

Frank blinked. "That's my dad."

M'gann's smile faded. "What?"

"We have to continue," Reyna said, leaning over the other side of the table. "The Greeks camp lines up to the sea and while the monsters cannot cross the camp they're backed into a corner. Working under the assumption that they know we're here, then that means we can safely assume our cover is blown."

Kaldur's lip twitched. "Would you like us to find out?"

Reyna leaned back, glancing at Frank. The other Praetor was leaning over the table, a concentrated look on his face. "How would we go about that?"

The Atlantean turned to Miss Martian, "Are you up for camouflage mode?"

The Martian threw on her hood, her face growing serious. "Into the monster camp?"

Kaldur's lip quirked and he glanced over at Reyna and Frank. "I believe the saying is 'into the Lion's den'."

Frank nodded, glancing at the two.

And then all of a sudden, Miss Martian's entire form began to disappear. From her legs up to her head, there was nothing, and suddenly she was gone entirely. Camouflage mode was not just some very good sneaking. She was literally invisible. But as Reyna looked closer, she could see the haze of where the girl had been standing. Not entirely foolproof, but decent enough against most monsters. And probably most humans.

And then it got stranger.

 _"_ _Do you read me?"_

Reyna and Frank both yelled out, holding their heads. A splitting something ripped through her brain.

"Sorry!" Miss Martian said out loud. "It'll be easier for me to communicate with you while I'm in the camp. It's a mind link, we can hear each other's thoughts."

Reyna straightened herself out, still holding her head as she stared at Kaldur. "How does it work?"

She heard his voice, but his mouth didn't move. The headache had numbed away, pulling back and receding so instead she heard a different voice. " _It is a mind link, as M'gann said. Think about what you want the others to hear. It will take some getting used to."_

" _Okay,"_ Frank said… thought? _"How many people can we add in?"_

Reyna did not know how M'gann 'hmmed' in her head, but the Martian managed. _"Depends. Too many and it'll get crowded, especially if most of the people are inexperienced."_

 _"_ _We can add in Jason and Piper… and maybe Chiron?"_ Frank asked, his voice hesitant through the link. " _It's like an instant Iris Message."_

Reyna didn't feel it necessary to say that that was the point of an iris message anyway, so she held her tongue. Or mind. Whatever. And while it would be beneficial to join the Greek camp in their plans, Reyna shook her head. Out loud she said, "I don't think so. We can wait until we have relevant information. No point on getting meaningless nothing across."

Kaldur nodded seriously, and Frank did too, a frown settling on his face as he leaned over the table. "So we send in Miss Martian to see if they know we're here."

"Or if they care," Reyna agreed. She turned to where she thought the girl was standing and nodded her head. "Go in and report to us what you see. How far can your mind link extend?"

 _"_ _Depends,"_ the Martian's voice sounded. _"But this distance will definitely be okay. Kaldur, are we a go?"_

 _"_ _Be quick,"_ Kaldur replied.

The haze disappeared through the tent and it was silent. Reyna felt no hum in her mind, no voices or anything. Frank stood off to the side, still looking over the battle plans. He glances up and looks between Reyna and Kaldur every so often, but otherwise remains quiet at her side.

* * *

 **Idaho-Oregon Line**

 **Next Morning**

* * *

Dick had only been out west when the circus had taken them out there. And even then, they'd only stopped in Las Vegas, LA, Seattle, and Phoenix. And he'd been young. Haly had eventually traded traveling the West and East cost for just the East and an International Tour. He barely remembered it, and that included dry heat in Phoenix for wet, cloudy weather in Seattle. His mother had loved Washington state and he recalled her wistfully saying, as the train blew past the hills, that they could live out there one day.

She'd hugged him close, brushing back his hair as they stared out the wet windows together, and whispered her imaginary house to his ears. Now, he stared out dry windows as the sun set over grass and mountains. Barbara had been wrapped up that night in the car as they'd flown down the highway West to avoid being chased by police. They knew they needed to head West from the prophecy but from the obvious lack of actual location, they were sort of going in blind. And Dick hated that. He was used to information, to knowledge. Batman would provide all the parameters and things he needed to know for their missions.

But Batman hadn't given them any mission. He hadn't shown them anything. They were heading West to find… something. And he wasn't quite sure what. A goddess? Where did a goddess hide? Why would a goddess hide? Come out and protect dammit.

The car's radio had been ripped out the previous night after they'd begun to be tailed by a monster, but Annabeth, having switched with Percy, had effectively lost it last night going almost 90 miles an hour. More silence. Dick felt as if half the quest had been in a silent car.

This quest. They needed to keep moving west, to keep moving to where they could be.

"Percy," Annabeth said hurriedly, her arm shooting out and grabbing Percy's shoulder. The boy jerked awake, reaching immediately into his pocket for Riptide. Dick sat up and spun around.

Monsters.

"Percy, wake up," she directed. "Monsters."

"Shit," Dick muttered, leaning over to wake up Barbara. The girl was still hazy if not a little tired from her wound, but sat up with urgency as the realization that they were being followed held. "Speed up!"

Annabeth didn't wait. She pressed her foot against the metal they zipped past the small truck they were behind. "We need to move. They're gaining."

It was the white truck again, it's headlights familiar to Dick as they raced down the now empty hallway. Trees rose along them on either side and the two lane highway stretched out in front of them.

"Monsters can drive?" Barbara asked, her red bun peaking over the seat as she sunk lower.

Dick smiled grimly, thinking of the strange monster-mortal hybrid from the research facility. It'd been a strange mix of magic and science, a combination of something that didn't need to be. The angrier it got, the more monstrous it appeared, the less rational and insane it was. And Dick had desperately hoped the thing hadn't died, that whatever they'd done to it wasn't too far gone enough for it to recognize that it had probably once been human. Dick shuddered as it's haunting red eyes burned into his memory. He wanted to think that that thing, whatever it really was, had been the only one.

And it wasn't even the worst thing he'd seen. Chemicals and things in Gotham could transform people into monsters. Dick had seen it firsthand. And he'd seen, or rather heard, of Zatanna talking about spells of things that transformed and cursed people into hideous beasts. But those were two entirely separate entities. Magic and science, mixing like they had, didn't go together. Shouldn't go together. It was why Dick felt some helplessness and thinking about how his life probably wouldn't be the same. Robin didn't have a magic sword, he didn't have water powers, and he certainly didn't have a magic water dad.

How could things like that mix?

"I think," he said out loud, "that a lot of things are about to change."

And as he said that, another white truck pulled up out of nowhere, almost in the blind spot of the car. Annabeth slammed her foot on the gas with a whispered shriek and the car flew forward. Dick and Barbara fell back into their seats at the sudden change of velocity.

"Shit!" Annabeth yelled. "What do I do? Where do I go?"

Percy jumped up. "Stop the car."

"What?"

"Stop the car, slam on the breaks! Hold on!"

And Annabeth did. She slammed the breaks of the car, the tires shrieking in protest as suddenly the blue of the trees disappeared and became still. The white truck slammed on its breaks and suddenly Dick was thrown forward. His seat belt ripped into his chest and waist and his head jerked forward so fast he didn't even realize that they were parallel to the road and the white truck was a head of them, flipped up on its roof.

The truck has swerved away, perpendicular to their car. Annabeth, in the front, was quickly shuffling out of her seatbelt, shouting something to the rest of them. Percy was gone, his door swung open wide. Dick hazily looked around. The air seemed to whistle around him, and there was a sharping panging in his head and neck.

A muffled voice was speaking to his right, but for the moment the only thing he could focus on was the hazy outlines of something coming from the white truck. Dick tried to blink it into focus but it wouldn't budge. It was like a Photoshop blue tool had been applied to his vision, or like a program that was trying really hard to render something. He rubbed his eyes.

"Dick!"

Dick jumped in surprise, and then suddenly he was a flurry of movement.

"We need to move!" Barbara shouted. "They're coming!"

Annabeth swung around. There was a little blood drippling from her mouth. Her head was already bruised. "Percy and I will hold them, you two run!"

Dick, still trying to figure out if the blonde in front of him was really Annabeth or a really good Zelda cosplay, blinked. "Not leaving. My quest."

"You need to be alive for it, Dick," Annabeth replied, "Barbara. Take him and go!" And then she was swinging her door open and flipping over the hood to join her boyfriend by the wreckage of the white truck. Dick moved sluggishly to stop her, but then Barbara's hands appeared and she was grabbing him by the armpits and pushing him through his door.

"Let's go. You heard her!"

"I can't—."

"You're Robin," she snapped, half in irritation and fear, and half in awe. "You can do anything. Come on!"

He picked himself up and began following her into the woods, racing through mossy green and bright green. The colors hurt his eyes, but Barbara's red hair stood out like a lighthouse in the green and he followed the girl deep into the woods. There were no shouts behind them, no indication that Percy and Annabeth were winning or losing. Barbara dragged Dick behind her, one hand in his and the other on her spoke. Dick's sword was still latched to his side, digging into his shoulder as they ran.

"I don't hear anything," Barbara said as they slowed to a walk.

Dick's vision had cleared up, and his ears were no longer ringing. He glanced around the slight hill they were on back down in the direction they'd came. "I don't see anything either. But we don't have a meet up place, or even know if Annabeth and Percy will be okay. If they're okay."

Barbara placed a comforting hand on Dick's shoulder. "Percy's strong, Dick. He'll be fine. And Annabeth is, well, Annabeth. She'll be okay too. They both will. Let's just keep heading further from the road and then double back up in thirty minutes and walk back down."

Dick bit his lip and then nodded, trusting Barbara. Annabeth and Percy would be okay. Dick needed to focus on the quest. The mission. Right now, that meant finding their goddess.

As they continued moving uphill, Dick unsheathed his sword and kept a watchful eye out around them.

"Do you think we'll win?" Barbara asked, ahead of him. "I mean, like, this whole thing."

Dick frowned. "Maybe." They didn't even really know who they were fighting, or what. They didn't know how large his army was or if this was a single battle war or if it would take time. Money. Lives. Dick's fist clenched tightly around his sword.

Barbara continued up ahead. "We'll get back to Gotham soon." Her shoulders slumped. "I miss my dad."

Dick's frown deepened. "I'm sorry Babs. You didn't have to come. I shouldn't have forced you to do this."

She shook her head, red hair falling around her. "Dick! Don't be ridiculous! You didn't force me to do anything! I wanted to help, and I wanted to come and do this. Even if I wasn't sure what this was."

Dick smiled. "You didn't have to."

"That's not the point," she retorted, "The point is that I wanted to. You're my friend Dick."

Dick kept the thought that friends didn't just drop everything to go on magical adventures together to stop a war to himself. He blushed deeply, thankful that Barbara was ahead of him and not looking back. "I miss home too."

"I miss school, surprisingly," Barbara laughed. "But not the uniforms."

"Definitely not the uniform," Dick replied, his face crunched up as he thought about the stupid shorts for gym. "I miss Mrs. Hellam."

"I miss her stupid map project we were working on," Barbara sighed. "But at least I know where Oregon is now, so I've got that going for me."

"You've got a lot going for you, Babs," Dick said without thinking. Barbara half tripped over the log, catching herself on a mossy tree. Her face was red as she turned around.

"Thanks Dick," she said.

They didn't talk for a few more minutes. They crunched over leaves and overhead a light rain began to fall around them. The leaves turned shiny and the dripping sounds of the leaves filled up the air on top of them. It somewhat reminded Dick of the grounds behind the manor, toward the river. But less green and thinner trees and a history.

"I miss Bruce, too, you know," Dick said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, a little. He's like my dad too, I guess. He mentioned once that he and his dad would go on little hikes in the grounds behind the manor. I guess the woods just reminded me of it," he replied, voice quiet as they tromped over a downed tree. Barbara reached back to help him up.

She frowned down at him, still holding his shoulder as they both stepped off the log. "Did the woods make you think about that?"

"I'm not sure," Dick said honestly. "Maybe? I guess he's just mentioned it before and every time. It's dumb."

"It's not!" Barbara protested, stopping short before picking up her pace in front of him again. "If it's how you're feeling Dick, I want to know."

He huffed. "Okay. I guess I just want to share that with him. Is that dumb?"

Barbara thought a moment, thinking of her own traditions she did with her father. Mashed potatoes and molasses dinners and Saturday night pizza and Star Wars, assuming he wasn't out fighting Gotham itself with Batman and Robin. "No," she said finally, "that isn't dumb. Didn't you do stuff with your parents?"

A difficult topic to discuss between them. Barbara rarely talked about her mother and Dick rarely mentioned his own parents. Dick was silent behind her, and the only way she knew he was still even there was his low breathing and the sound of him brushing through the wet leaves.

"Music nights," Dick said, "I know it's terribly cliché and whatever, but my parents and aunt and uncle would sit there and play music. I remember that. I still remember some of the songs too, that my mom would sing."

Barbara nodded. "Then why would it be dumb to want to do something like that with Bruce? To spend time with him?"

He frowned. "It wouldn't. It shouldn't be."

"Yeah, it really shouldn't be. Why is that, Dick?"

He jerked back a little, and she actually turned around and stopped. They stared at each other for a long moment before Dick pulled his eyes away from her, back down the hillside.

"I don't know, can we not talk about this anymore?"

"If it's bothering you, we should—."

"On my own time, Babs," he interrupted, brow furrowed as he turned back to look at her.

She turned away and kept walking up the long stretch hill, moving the branches and leaves out of their path with her spoke and hands. Dick didn't speak, and only turned around to check to see if they were being followed. The hill curved up, the trees venturing tall into the clouds, and the rain pattered around their heads. Dick didn't feel any better with the water on him, not like he had in the ocean, but it still felt refreshing.

Dick liked it out west here, it somewhat reminded him of Gotham. It was so different. Instead of tall buildings and bright neon signs, it was soaring trees and bright green leaves. Dirt was on the ground instead of concrete and instead of horns and beeps it was the chirps and soft sound of rain in the air. Dick loved the rain. He had ever since he'd moved to Gotham. Before that, rain meant no show or a low turnout. It meant soggy feet and costumes. It meant another night packing up in the cold and moving forward. Dick had hated the rain. But then he moved to the Manor. And rain meant hot chocolate or a movie. It mean time spent with Bruce.

The fog spread light through the city. Straight neon signs of red became billowing seas of deep colors as the rain pattered against concrete and glass. It meant Dick could look out the back of the manor and see a foggy gray woods, or it meant he looked out the front and saw a fading city. Dick loved the rain. It was new and bright and it made him feel better.

Around them large rock faces began to rise from the ground, creating long halls of rock and tree around them. Low grey light filtered through the tops of the trees.

He turned around again to check to see if they were being followed when he saw it. A small cave half covered with vines and ivy, tucked away and hidden in the rock face. On each side of the entrance there were torches. His hand snapped out to grab Barbara's elbow.

She jumped and held up her spoke. "What?!"

"The cave," he whispered, "do you see it?"

She peered in the direction he was looking. "Nope," she muttered under breath. Loudly, she said, "Must be magic. Think it holds our goddess?"

"I'd bet my inheritance," he said, glancing back at her with a grin. "Ready?"

She slapped the iron spoke in her hand. "Let's do this, Grayson."

Dick slipped over a rock and held the ivy to the side. "Ladies first, Gordon."

She looked at the rock strangely, but now that Dick was physically interacting with the magic, the mist must have mostly cleared. She held out her spoke, but it went straight through the rock she supposedly saw, and then stepped clear in to the darkness. Dick followed behind her with one passing glance around them.

There was a long hall with torches every several feet, and just as the light from the last one became too dim another would crop up as a low glint along the stone walls. It went on for some time with Dick leading now, sword drawn. There was silent dripping from the ceiling that had him ruffling his hair every few minutes.

And then suddenly, the hall opened to a cavern. The walls expanded out and the ceiling grew several feet. The torches had all but disappeared from the walls, because there was no need for them anymore. The cavern was filled with beautiful crystals. They glowed with magic and despite Dick's clear disability to use it, he could certainly feel it around him. The entire place was filled with it, a glowing pulsing hum.

A hum that reminded him of Gotham.

In the center of this large cavern was a woman. Her skin was so pale, she almost looked like one of the crystals herself. She was turned away from them, a traditional Greek toga draped over her body. Her hair, pinned up halfway, was a rich brown, and on the top of her head was a laurel wreath crown.

Dick and Barbara froze.

She turned around.

"I've been waiting for you," she spoke. And when she did, it did not seem like her voice came from her mouth. Dick felt it permeate around him, from the walls, the floors, the crystals themselves. He shivered. "Come closer," she said, smiling.

Barbara reached for Dick's hand, grabbing it and squeezing it tightly as they walked down a narrow path through the crystals. They stopped just a few feet short of her.

Dick swallowed. "My… my name is Richard Grayson, this is Barbara Gordon. We were looking for you. For our quest."

"Yes," she spoke, "My name is Soteria. It is good to see you. I am pleased you made it here."

Dick bit his lip. "My brother, and his girlfriend do you know if—?"

She held up a hand. "They are safe. You are not here to ask about Perseus and Annabeth, yes?"

Dick stopped and then nodded. "Yeah, I mean, no. I, we, the world, I mean, needs your protection."

She titled her head to the side. From Dick's experiences of dealing with gods and goddesses, Soteria seemed far more… godlike than his father. Not that Poseidon wasn't of course, but Soteria wore the toga, she lived in a giant cavern filled with magic crystals in a strange forest. For a hot second, Dick felt like fauns and elves were going to come dancing out of the woodwork.

"My protection," she mused, "Yes. But it does not come easy."

Barbara stuttered as she spoke. "We'll do whatever we have to."

Soteria finally glanced from Dick to Barbara, her eyes never softening as she did. "I know this. You have three tasks you must accomplish. Three tasks you must use to prove to me that this protection is deserved."

Barbara squeezed his hand and Dick felt his lips quirk up in a smile.

"What do we have to do?" he asked.

Soteria smiled at them and turned to the side, plucking a crystal from the ground. She held it in her palms. "Look into it. The first task you must prove to me is proving _Agape._ Unconditional love."

Inside the stone, Dick saw himself with Bruce and Alfred. They were at dinner when Dick was a lot younger, still tiny and sporting fat in his cheeks. He was teasing Bruce, who was sharing smiles with him and Alfred. He wondered if Barbara saw anything different, and by the look on her face, half hidden behind his shoulder, she did.

"Next," Soteria said, "You must prove to me _Eros._ Intimate love of the soul."

Dick watched his mom and dad dance around a campfire, the red yellow light of the fire making their bodies glow as they twisted around it and laughed. He felt a longing in his heart. In the distance, or perhaps it was a memory from long ago, he heard music.

"And now, _storge,_ " she said. "The love and understanding of a parent and child."

And Dick saw Bruce. Just working at his desk, sitting there with papers and work and a furrowed brow. Dick reached out. Unlike the others, Dick could not tell if this was a memory or something that was happening now. He wanted to shout, to tell Bruce he was okay, but then the image faded.

He looked up at the goddess. She'd seemingly shrunk, closer to Dick and Barbara. More human. Her face was round, heart shaped with large dark eyes that reminded him of a doe. But there was a sharpness there, an intelligence. And love. It was the same look, the same love, that Dick still recalled about his mother's eyes. He barely remembered the shade, barely knew the shape, but he remembered looking into her eyes and feeling so much love.

"You must choose your best memory, your best example, of your own love. Protection does not come from nothing. We all have our own reasons to protect something. Show me yours, and my gift will be yours," she said, her hand resting on Dick's shoulder. It was surprisingly cold through his sweater, and then she smiled at both of them. "Down that hall, the tasks will begin." She pointed down the path to a door. It looked ancient, not unlike the cave itself, and it creaked open to show darkness.

"There, you will find yourselves. I will be waiting."

Dick turned back to the goddess, but she was gone. Barbara let go of his hand, taking a few steps forward.

"Tell me you were also hallucinating into a crystal?"

For once, Dick wanted to answer seriously. It was magic, but he couldn't help but crack a smile and laugh a little. "Yeah. You ready?" He reached for her hand again, for comfort. She took it.

"You betcha."

And they walked through the door.

* * *

 **What's up my dudes?**

 **Sorry this is so, so, so late. I'm so busy in school, you have no idea. I want to die.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter!**


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